Your Birth Chart is a Window Into Your Life
A birth or natal chart is a snapshot of the sky the moment that you were born - the first breath of life you took. It memorializes the exact position of the Sun, Moon, outer and inner planets (and countless bodies and other mathematical astrological points of interest in the sky).
The magic of astrology lies in the ability of the natal chart to illuminate one’s “natal promise” - to provide a sort of map or window into you. Somehow, in some mysterious way, the position of the planets and the stars in the sky actually holds symbolic and archetypal meaning to the way that your life unfolds. It sounds far-fetched, and there was a time I seriously doubted this could possibly be the case, but the process of analyzing a birth chart and plucking out salient meaning holds up time and time again.
The kind of astro I study
There are many different kinds of astrology. After all, it’s been practiced for thousands of years. I believe there are no right or wrong forms of astrology - they are all different and valid modalities - each illuminating in their own right. I practice Hellenistic astrology and I use the whole sign house system because it is what first captivated me and what personally makes sense to me - at least right now. That said, I’ve incorporated some tenets of modern and evolutionary astrology along the way. And, I’m constantly studying and learning more. I’m sure I’ll keep growing and incorporating new ways of turning and examining the astrological jewel.
Your Sun sign is just the tip of the iceberg
When I first started studying astrology, I was struck by how comprehensive the birth chart is. It covers all of the topics of life. It doesn’t just represent you, it also represents your parents, your grandparents, your siblings, your partnerships, your career, your friends, your neighborhood, your finances, your daily routines, your children, your creative pursuits - even your pets! There’s death and mental illness and health. Intimacy. Romance. Travel… it’s all included in the wheel in a symbolic way.
I was also struck by how much larger the whole system is - especially when all I knew of astrology was the Sun sign. Turns out, the Sun sign is just one small slice of the pie. It’s important, sure. But, what’s arguably more important is your rising sign, which marks the degree of the zodiac that was rising above the Eastern horizon the moment you were born. This is called the Ascendant, and it always falls in the first of the twelve houses. The houses are defined by various topics of life, and the first house is the most you of the chart - your body, your psychology, your personality. So, unless your sun also happens to fall in the first house, the horoscopes which you may have come across are not descriptive of your experience because you’ve unknowingly been reading for your Sun sign instead of your rising sign. And, horoscopes are written with the rising sign in mind.
My role in all this
In a birth chart session, my task is to analyze and synthesize how the planets are doing - how they’re behaving. Which planets are in charge of which areas of life and how are they doing? How well-situated is Venus and can she see her domicile ruler, Mars? If not, does she struggle to bring her Venusian goodness to the topics of life she oversees? Which planets are in harmonious aspects to each other? Which ones are duking it out in the corner? And what might that all mean? How might it feel or present itself in life? And - perhaps of utmost interest - when is it likely to show up?
The birth chart is a window into the energies that are bound to come alive at one point or another in your life - if you’re interested, I’m happy to sit next to you and look out that window together.
