When it comes to astrology, particularly predictions, I often come across people who just want to know the when and what. When will I meet the one, when will I get the job, what is my soul’s purpose? And of course, it is our human nature to want to know. This is why as human beings we are so addicted to information, to categories, to identities – it is merely our attempt to give ourselves some comfort in knowing in this unstable thing called life. But we’ll never know it all. And the humility of this deserves to be treasured.
As a spiritual astrologer, my intention is for you to gain more self-awareness and become the magic wand of your own creating. Certainly, there are ways to see some timings in life, but truth be told – those events activated by transits are only as manifested as you need them to. If you are already doing the work yourself, no Mercury retrograde will ever bring back an ex – because there is nothing for you to reflect back on, or the energetic ties have already been released, or even if someone comes back you’ll just not engage anyway. If you are already doing the work yourself, no matter how many amazing transits you have in your 7th house, you may still be single – because that’s the right alignment for you right now. The one meant for you will find you, it’s inevitable, but the timing of these soul contracts go beyond astrology, beyond the stars, beyond the hands of our clocks. Love can happen at any time. Transits only show certain areas of life that may surface for consideration.
What astrology really is, is three things: 1) the concept of time and how it changes, as per the “three fires of time”, 2) the understanding that there’s no good or bad, and 3) the lover’s dance of opposites, as we can only understand something if we have understood its opposite also.
In astrology, there are certain imprints or “burns” from the Sun which are essentially imprints from past lives and karmas on the stream of our consciousness. These will burn on their own timing. In fact, everything in nature eats something else. Our Moon is what feeds us, what nourishes us and what we need to eat to survive. Even in our physical bodies, we wax and wane; we begin as small dots in the tummy, peanut sizes, and then wax, grow, until we reach a full size, after which we’ll begin to wane until returning to all five elements. The Moon is also the lineage of our soul, and holds all lives into itself – it is the womb of which we are born.
Spiritual astrology is not for the faint of heart – it requires a certain level of self-awareness, responsibility and willingness to look within. Real love too is not for the faint of heart.
In a way, a natal chart is a spiritual study of that which is consumed by time. Every single one of us is a little seed of love, which has its unique burns from the Sun, impressions and imprints from past lives; and we need our own nurturing of water and soil; and we all have our own nutritive cycles. And once we understand our nature, our soil, our underground heat, the weather and the climate, then we can know how to grow in our own way and come into our full essence. We need to understand what to burn, what we need to eat, and what needs to be devoured and released completely.
The stars, the Moon, the planets, the constellations, are all only great indicators of the signs of time passed – of how time consumes us and how all things are interwoven into the cosmic fabrics of consciousness. It is our understanding of a current moment; it is a language longed to be understood but will forever remain somewhat mystical because it is our desire and curiosity to learn that drives us forward, and to become life. Essentially, each reincarnation is an opportunity for a deepening of self-understanding.
The Three Fires of Time
In some shape or form, much of life can be explained through the beautiful esoteric philosophy of the three fires of time: wood, fire and smoke.
Smoke is the song of union between wood and fire. The light of fire is the knower; and the wood is that one that seeks and longs to be known. In the union of these, as fire kisses the wood, there is a release, a surrender, a transformation, an alchemy like love – for love too is the song of alchemy – and wood finds its life in the smoke. Whatever fragrance was within the wood, the fire will reveal it as it rises it upward. In this way, we approach the path of self-realization – of that which illuminates us from within. We touch the vast expansions and contractions in the oceans of time.
The three fires of time also symbolize the weaving of consciousness, willingness and unfolding; of past, present and future ever weaving in, out and of themselves.
Through the light of our awareness, and the willingness to peel the layers of our bark and outer skins or false identities, we come into deeper intimacy – and our true essence, our natural aroma comes through. This then transforms everything, and of this, all else is born.
What this means in the context of astrology is that depending on where you are in the peeling of your bark, the strength and rising of your aroma, and essentially, the path of your self-realization, the manifestation of aspects and placements will differ to match you in that moment. The wood is our identity and established self and reality – with all its conditioned thoughts and behaviours; the fire is the awareness that allows us to become more conscious; and the smoke is our true essence, which can then interact and engage and flow through anything, yet remain fundamentally unchanged, because it is already what it is at its essence.
And so there are usually three ways of manifestation activated through a transit: it can be on a physical level, or an emotional level, or a spiritual level, depending on what you need to awaken within yourself. Physical level manifestations happen so that it is easier for us to see things in a more tangible way as a mirror, so that change is inspired; emotional level manifestations usually cause more of an emotional wave within us, as we don’t necessarily need awareness to come from without; and the spiritual manifestations are usually more energetic but rarely felt, as these are just aligning threads in the higher self through more harmony and natural flow, and so in real life that might just express itself as synchronicity or a shift in energy.
An Example.
So let’s go through an example with an aspect and how it may play out. Let’s say you have your natal Venus in your third house. The third house is about communications, storytelling, writing, skills and talents, creativity and self-efforts, intellectual curiosity, entrepreneurship, and devotion. This placement usually shows that the native has a beautiful way of words, and they have the potential to touch people’s hearts, inspiring them and awakening their consciousness.
On a deeper level, the third house is actually the house portraying the soul’s courage. And the higher octave of this is the subconscious. The third house is the time of night during which dreams may manifest into reality, as it rules parts of the intuitive brain found at the back of the neck. This house is also ruled by the number 3, which is the number os manifestation – as we need three points to make a circuit of energy and ground it into the physical. As such, this is the house of the power of the mind and the power of words. It is the house which allows the native to literally manifest and create a change in people’s consciousness through words. Some of the greatest healers and storytellers, as well as psychics and intuitive messengers, have had powerful third house.
Natives with this placement are known to have the ability to become channels of divine messages, and through their words, they activate people’s psyches to raise their consciousness and inspire them deeply; and to also re-connect them to all parts of them which they had thought they’d lost. These natives have the ability to translate higher esoteric knowledge and spiritual wisdom into simpler words, so that it is more accessible to other people and easier to understand and digest.
On the other hand, if the native is still not as far along on their path to self-realization – if they still have a lot of bark to peel off – then this placement may manifest mainly as addiction to information without meaningful usage, or lack of attention, or lack of responsibility and self-accountability with their words. Some people may also become more in love with words than actually walking their talk; and their words eventually become empty and without any weight. Some may become stuck in rigid thinking, close-mindedness, and gain knowledge from recycled meme-styled information rather than invest their time in research and true understanding of a topic, all of which results in lack of depth and limits their soul development.
The more we rise in our aroma of self-realization through the weaving of willingness and awareness, the more we come into the unfolding of our true self and manifestation of our higher potential.
Venus gets her full realization in formlessness and in the complete dissolution of everything – as we come into the real beauty which is inner beauty. In the acceptance of unknowing and trust, we begin to walk the real paths. Often times true knowledge is not found in books, but in the quietness and even silence of our devotion – in how we tend to all in our life, how we treat one another, how we care for things.
There are actually no mysteries in life. Everything to know is already out there to know, but we need the eyes to see it and the patience of rhythm until we open them. It takes years. It takes a rising of fragrance. It has its own timing, which is unique to each one of us.
In the old days, spiritual students would spend years only doing service – chop wood, carry water – until the teach would initiate them into higher knowledge. Devotion is the veil through which awareness shows its beautiful face. Knowledge always protects itself. This is why you’d see mystical texts, whether the Vedas, Psalms or the Bible, often written in parables. Those who are meant to understand will understand. Those who are not, or are not yet ready to process it, will not even when they think their eyes are wide open. And of course, spiritually impure people will never understand the spiritually pure – they think they do, and they preach it, but they don’t really know it. Be mindful of who you listen to, and of the bright stars that shine on social media feeding you. God’s light is quiet and almost unseen; it is like the wings of a butterfly, only softly touching you and changing you from within without you even realizing it.
And so … the three fires of time. There are many layers and unfoldings, and as such aspects, timings and manifestations will differ depending on where you are and what you need at this time. Your soul’s purpose too is not a static thing – it is in your unfolding, and as such, as may change shape or form throughout your life, but essentially, it is in your energy and how you affect other people. If you are looking at astrology to gain a deeper insight – or rather – a different perspective on yourself, then I think that’s great. Let it be that. Use it as fire, as something that may allow you an opportunity for a deepening and a rising.
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Cover art by John Bauer.
