If you’ve had an astrology soul purpose session with me before, you’d know that one of the first things that we usually talk about is how I tell you a story unique to you: the story of your Sun, Moon and Ascendant (or Rising). It is a story that marries together the three threads of where you’ve been, where your soul desires to go and how you’ll get there. In spiritual astrology, the Moon is often known as the lineage of our soul, the Sun is the essence that fuels us in life, and the Ascendant is the pathway towards your soul’s desire and essentially, it is a part of our higher soul’s purpose. So in our mystical talk tonight, let’s delve a little deeper into the spiritual secrets of our Sun, Moon and Rising.
As we mentioned, the Sun is our fuel in life. In ancient texts, it is also referred to our soul’s karma or soul‘s mission – because it is what burns us and peels us until we liberate ourselves and reach God. So being born of a particular Sun sign is really important and allows you to step into the higher manifestation of this energy, so that you can spiritually grow and evolve. This is why many modern day astrologers may talk to you about “work and career” when they look at your Sun sign – but the deeper meaning of this isn’t “work or career” – it is the soul‘s mission or service you do to release yourself from karma, to burn it off, and then be able to rise towards your life’s and soul’s purpose.
Sun is the fire, the solar wisdom, the consciousness or essence of the fire that pull us forward on our path towards our soul’s purpose. And what is our soul’s purpose anyway? It is not a thing tangible nor a destination nor a fixed star – it is movable, and often times changes shapes in its outward expression throughout our life. Our soul’s purpose is essentially connected to the expression of our inner essence – the uniqueness that we are – and through that, we shine a light and love that inspires others also. When we walk a path of our soul’s truth, we are essentially walking the path of our higher purpose; when we are truly ourselves, our light and love shine onto others. On a higher level, we are all here to learn to love even more, and to contribute to others through that love and generosity of spirit.
And so, our soul’s purpose is not a particular job title nor destination – it is not something to be described in a word nor a phrase – it is something that shapes along the way in our every step. Our soul’s purpose unfolds through our very essence of who we are, in the way that we affect and impact all and everyone around us throughout our life. It is a movement. And often times it gets its full realization in the formlessness. It is something to be walked with a patience and kindness of rhythm; it is found on the devotional pathway. It is in the ocean as much as it is in the waves.
Each time we rise in deeper self-knowing, peeling yet another level of ourselves to come to our true essence of self, this “purpose” is walking with us. Hence, our Rising sign or Ascendant.
Our Rising is the sign which rose when we were born – it is the beginning – it is the front door of our house in this life. Through that front door, we will walk the path of our soul towards our soul’s purpose. This is why often in esoteric astrology, we look at the Rising sign to show us what the soul’s purpose is.
For example, someone who has Taurus Rising is here to learn how to experience spirit into matter, and inspire others to use the senses towards a higher spiritual purpose. Someone who has Libra as Rising is here to understand the harmony in equal relationships, learn interdependence, and experience relationships as a spiritual path rather than as an identity of self. And someone who has a Capricorn Rising has the higher purpose of learning discipline and responsibility in their soul’s development, as well as integrity of their words and actions.
This rising is a life’s path. And this is how our Sun supports us on it – because it allows us to rise in self-knowledge as fire of consciousness.
In some shape or form, much of life can be explained through the simple esoteric philosophy of what I call the three fires of time: fire burns the wood to create smoke. The wood is the willingness, it desires to be known, and represents us as the element of earth and a more tangible shape with established ideas, beliefs and thoughts. The fire is the consciousness, it is the knower – it is the consciousness becoming aware of itself, and the light that enters us. What rises is the smoke – it is the unique aroma that we are – it is our true essence.
The smoke is the song of marriage between wood and fire. The light of fire is the seeker, the alchemist, the spiritual student, the esoteric knower; and the wood is that which longs to be known, all parts of us that long to be known. In the union of these, as fire kisses the wood, there is a release, a surrender, a transformation, like love – and wood finds its life in the smoke. Wood realizes its scent and what it actually is. Whatever fragrance was within the wood, the fire will reveal it as it rises upward. In these weavings of past, present and future; of Sun, Moon and Rising; of consciousness, willingness and unfolding; are the ebbs and flows in the oceans of Time.
Depending on where we are in our rising, the experiences, transits and energies will be manifesting and felt differently in our life. But essentially we decided to be incarnated because we desired an opportunity for a deepening. We desired to know and to be known, just like love desires to know and to be known; we desired to explore ourselves and to develop our soul through that knowledge. The density of this earthly reality allows us to do that because things are reflected to us more clearly here, in a more tangible way.
Respect the one who resides in the heart of all beings, keeping awake when they are asleep. He is the sacrificial fire and the fruit gained. Sun is the origin and the protector, the sacrifices given and the fruits obtained by perfoming these sacrifices. Sun is the fire of consciousness, the knower that burns the layers of those that desire to be known, aiding us on the path of self-knowledge. He is the lord of all action in our worlds and decides the path. As dusk and dawn follow their own paths, as birds know the direction of flight.
In some texts, the Sun is also referred to as the light of Christ or God, and so when we connect to higher values and faith, and build the bridge to God and the Christ Consciousness, more higher consciousness enters us to help us on our path towards self-realization. This is why the best way to deal or manage anything is through self-growth, which assumes some level of spiritual practice and spiritual development. Christ Consciousness is essentially about the development of the high heart energy and the consciousness and embodiment of unconditional love through our words and every day gestures.
And now, speaking of heart and love – our silver Goddess, the Moon.
In spiritual astrology, the Moon is known as the lineage of our soul. She holds all memory and energetic imprints of all lives into herself, she is the womb of which we are born. The Moon is the deepest and most intimate part of us, it is where we came from, what we carry, it is our memory, heart and mind; it is the unique physical, emotional and spiritual wild lands within us; it is how we nurture and how we’ve been nurtured; it is the cave of our heart, the shelter of our heart, and it is our church within. The Moon is the mother and the heart.
The Moon is also what feeds us, what nourishes us and what we need to survive. She also shows our physical body and well-being, especially for a woman, and is also our intuition and connection to self and heart. Just as she waxes and wanes in the skies, so we too in our physical bodies wax and wane throughout our life. We begin small like a dot, a peanut size, and then wax, until we reach full size; and then, we begin to wane until we return to all five elements. The Moon is essentially the completeness, an entirety, and it is a world that always holds us in love and warmth.
Ruled by the Moon, the sign of Cancer is considered one of the purest signs and it is our highest teachers – also known as the guru or intelligence in some older mysticism texts. In esotericism, it is also connected to higher states of consciousness and unconditional love – and this is because it is heart-centered, it is the mother, it is the heart, and the heart must be handled with wisdom and discernment. So this is why the sign of Cancer is about intelligence – as intelligence comes from the heart. To know the minds of others, you must know the heart. Cancer is a very powerful sign of cardinal water. People often mistake the Moon for weakness, but it is the ocean – it is power, it is strength, and it is considered sacred and divine. Many powerful deities and people across the history of humanity had the energy of Cancer prominent in that charts, including lord Rama who was born in the Punarvasu Nakshatra, which is a Cancer-ruled constellation. Punarvasu is essentially the purest one; it is the mother of Gods and the light that brings life into being again. It is one of the most, if not the most, blessed and benevolent nakshatras, and people born in it are blessed in many ways.
There are 27 nakshatras and they are all essentially the wives of the Moon, because the Moon is a 28 cycle. Each nakshatra is essentially a yoni (a womb), a feminine aspect of receptivity of a seed that we are, and through which we then grow and are nurtured in its embrace. As women, we are all unique and our bodies are too – which means that one size (or shape of energy) does not fit all. We need to each know the cycle of our own land that we are – and of our underground – and we need to learn to listen to our own inner wisdom and heart. We all have our own difference language that our body speak, and our own way of intutive language also. Find your own essence, respect and diversity of land – for you are a unique physical, emotional and spiritual wild land.
In life we need to known what to burn, what to eat and feed on for nourishment, and what needs to be devoured completely. The stars, the moon, the planets, the constellations, are all only great indicators of the signs of time – of how time consumes us and how things are woven into the cosmic fabrics of consciousness. In a way, our natal chart is a spiritual study of that which is consumed by time. The Sun burns, feeds, devours; and every single one of us is a little seed, which has its unique burns from the Sun, impressions and imprints from all lives, pasrt, future and present, along the stream of our consciousness. But once we understand this – once we understand our nature, our soil, our underground, the weather and the climate – then we can know how to grow in our own way and come into our full essence.
Consider where the most turbulance of an ocean is found. It is the friction and movements on the surface, in the waves. But once you go deeper, you will find the stability and serenity. And so where is the power found? It is in your body. It is within you. It is your spiritual core. It is in your heart. Your heart, is the pathway to all. Whatever comes from outside needs to find its way inside you to affect you.
So spiritual astrology is a perspective, one of many other perspectives, that allows you an opportunity for a deepening and for self-knowledge. It is not about transits, or horoscopes or predictions, it is about the devotional pathway of learning, dedication and inner growing. As all other studies of mysticism, esotericism and spirituality, it will always hand you back the key to your own intelligence and wisdom of heart. Any insights you gain from it, or from anything else in life, you may use to unveil more within you, as you wish and when you wish.
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Cover artwork by Margarete Petersen.
