I’m redoing the course again and I’m on cancer/4H/moon and wow, is it ever deep. I got stuck on the difference between feelings and emotions, I’m not very confident that I know the difference. I tried to look it up on the old forum and I happened upon this amazing thread on emotions and eastern religions.
https://forum.schoolofevolutionaryastrology.com/index.php?topic=820.0
I’m also stuck on the difference between soul and spirit.
It was said in the course that feelings are more libra, I can’t seem to make that make sense. Is this due to the natural zodiac and the square of cancer? From the descriptions, it seems that they are instinctive, which makes them more Aries. Is it because of these two aspects?
sorry these questions are a bit messy but here they are
What is the difference between feelings and emotions?
What is the difference between spirit and soul?
Thanks so much for your help, I’m really loving this course. It’s helping me so much
Hi Dominikas –
Regarding Feelings vs. Emotions (paraphrasing from Pluto II) page 141
Feelings are the immediate reactions to a specific experience or circumstance
Emotion is a reaction to those feelings
My POV- I see feelings more as a mental(air), and emotions as a deeper water element. From my understanding and perception, feelings are subjective, and conscious in their nature. Emotions are deeper, and sometimes unconscious. For example; I may hear a song and say something like “I don’t like this song!”(feeling), but it could be rooted into the song tapping into a deeper, suppressed emotion(i.e. unresolved grief); or I might exhibit the feeling of being annoyed by someone in a small group setting; but that feeling could be actually rooted to an unconscious emotion and memory of someone from my past who may have hurt me or created some form of trauma in this life or others.
We are emotional bodies. Our physical bodies are made of mostly water – and from what I’ve studied there exists a physiological response when dealing with emotions. There is a great study done by Dr. Masaru Emoto on water that I highly recommend everyone to look into. His study proved that there is a memory inside water molecules that is retained by exposing the water to different emotional stimuli (positive and negative). The positive stimuli (words like “I love you; you are beautiful; classical harmonious music”, etc…) would create these beautiful symmetrical geometrical snowflake patterns. The negative influences (i.e. words spoken like “I Hate You; You are stupid; or music that not harmonious) would create these distorted, ugly almost smokey looking shapes that were not symmetrical.
Feelings are what you feel the moment something happens. If we do not acknowledge the feeling or suppress it, it will create an emotion (which was a reaction to that feeling). That is why healing has so much to do with bringing up suppressed and repressed emotions that are stuck inside our souls.
As JWG stated, that which becomes suppressed/repressed, becomes distorted.
Thank you for your response. I’ve heard his teachings, thank you… It’s sounding like superficial thoughts versus core beliefs in cognitive behavioral therapy, which to me echoes the 3/9 house polarity. But since we’re dealing with emotions and the 4H, could this point more toward a 4/10 dynamic? Is there something in the 10H, Saturn, or Capricorn that could reflect the feelings we’re referencing? It’s just not clicking yet.
The feelings JWG describes seem very first house—instinctive. But then tying in that polarity brings in Libra, which starts to make some sense too.
Do we have feelings that don’t link to something deeper? Are they just nervous system responses to our environment—and it’s the connection to trauma and memory that forms emotion?
I’m still trying to make sense of this. I tend to learn by deeply understanding patterns rather than memorizing frameworks, so I often need to break things down until they resonate viscerally. It’s not always a linear process, but it’s how I build real integration.
Also what is the diff between spirit and soul? Maybe an astral body and soul?
Hi Dominikas I thought I remembered reading once on the old message board that “feelings” correlated with Taurus, but I may have remembered incorrectly, as I could not find anything from a search. However I did find this quote about Venus (ruler of Taurus):
“Venus also correlates with the very nature of our 'feelings': how we feel about whatever circumstantial stimulus occurs in the life of the Soul, and how the Soul 'feels' about itself: it's inner relationship to itself. Feelings are instinctual reactions to any given stimulus, of how the Soul feels about itself in any given moment, and these in turn trigger emotions which are in fact reactions to the Soul's feelings. Emotions, of course, correlate with the triad of Cancer/ Scorpio/ Pisces.”
(https://forum.schoolofevolutionaryastrology.com/index.php/topic,832.msg19030.html#msg19030)
Regarding spirit and soul, this is something I’m still unsure about myself. I feel that there may be a correlation to “spirit” with the Sun, as the light and vitality that animates our soul within this lifetime. However I am not sure if this aligns with the formal EA view.
Thank you @littleaprilshower ! I’ll look into it more as well.. i wonder if the Taurus side is more sensual than emotive .. but I’ll keep digging!:)
Hi all,
Rad helped me out with this not long ago. Here's the thread where we discussed this if you are not already aware of it: https://www.jwgaea.org/forum/evolutionary-astrology-q-a/feelings-vs-emotions-a-venus-moon-question?origin=member_posts_page
This is really great thank you so much, I’m going to take some time to really go through it properly
Hi Ari,
Thank you for linking the thread with Rad — I really appreciated both of your responses. I’ve been sitting with it, but I still find something in me feels like I’m missing the full understanding.
I’m wondering why these feelings sound so primal — which feels Aries to me.
And then I started thinking: maybe it’s because of the Libra–Aries axis. Primal feelings. The Taurus–Scorpio axis could bring about feelings relative to that inner struggle or duality — the pull toward and away from source. Or the push and pull away from things.
And since Scorpio is in the water trinity with Cancer, maybe that’s also why feelings and emotions get mixed up?
I always try to experiment with myself, and I noticed that feelings show up more like a good/bad, fight/flight, like/dislike response. They lead me toward or away from things in my environment — maybe even my inner environment.
When I observe emotions, it feels more linked to memory. A kind of nostalgia — memories weaving together a complex set of thoughts, mixed with these more primal feelings. Like a memory bank that shapes emotional structure.
But maybe that’s just my own subjective experience. So others experience it the same way?
Could the axes and aspects help deepen the understanding?
I’m Curious to hear your thoughts on this.. thanks again for taking the time :)
Oh also: what is the difference between spirit and soul?