In astrology, our North Node often shows us our direction in life, what we’ve come here to form and shape as part of our soul’s desire and life’s work or purpose. In Shamanic astrology, we see the ascendant as our path of life, our sun is our fuel of life, and our moon is the lineage of our soul. And through Vedic astrology we can analyze our atmakaraka for deeper insights on our soul’s desire. In human design, we look towards the incarnation cross which is believed to show our purpose or destiny, while our profile shows what we’re made for or how we may fulfill our purpose.
And what is purpose? I believe it is more about our being, or unveiling of our true self, rather than about a specific goal, destination, career or job title.
Your purpose is not one sentence, it is not a phrase, it is not a still image from a movie. It’s an unfolding, a rising of aroma, as the fire of awareness peels the layers of the bark and the true fragrance is released – our true essence, and the ways in which our unique unmistakable scent of love and of kindness touches the hands of others, the noses of others, kisses their cheeks.
Living out our purpose is a life’s long work that all unveils through our every day actions, words and hands; we shape so much of who we are and how we affect others and what we shape in this life even through our seemingly ordinary gestures along the circling staircases of our life. It is about your unveiling of who you truly are and how you impact people along the way. Maybe your higher purpose is to inspire people and the only way to do that is to go through a life of struggles or failures, where you learn self-motivation and perseverance. Maybe your higher purpose is to have the hands that will hold those who need love in their life – and that means you’ll learn nurturing, compassion and kindness, time and time again, through the situations you’ll face.
In many ways, purpose is about being; and while we each have a unique contribution to make in this life, our purpose is more about what we are here to explore, to offer through our presence, through how we are of service, how we empower others, how we spread love, kindness and joy. This purpose is constantly and endlessly being and weaving, and is reflected through our life’s work or soul’s calling.
The Incarnation Cross
In human design, our purpose is encapsulated in our incarnation cross through the combination of our sun and earth gates. Our conscious sun shows our life’s work or what we’re here to do; our conscious earth shows our evolution or what we’re here to learn; our unconscious sun shows our radiance or what keeps us healthy; and our unconscious earth shows our purpose or what deeply fulfills us. In my sessions, we go over each of these as they are very unique just for you, but today I’ll guide you through a general overview as an introduction to the incarnation cross.
Each incarnation cross belongs to one of the four quarters: initiation/mind, civilization/form, duality/relationships, and mutation/spirit. In this article I will guide you through the general meanings of the four quarters, which are associated with the gate of your conscious sun or your life’s purpose, i.e. this is not about your entire incarnation cross. You can see how each gate falls into one of the four quarters, so find the gate of your conscious sun and see which quarter on the chart below it falls into. This quarter will give you an idea of the general framework of your life and a broad, almost hawk’s eyes view, on your purpose.
Please keep in mind that these are only general, and nothing in human design nor astrology is ever meant to be an absolute – it is all part of all else, blending itself and shaping differently through its interaction with other aspects. As such, it depends on what else is happening in your body graph and natal chart, and even then, nothing is still ever going to tell you everything. This is because our greatest lesson in life is trust – trust in self and trust in our path, trust in the divine unfolding of our life; so we are meant to find some answers on our own, and have some pages unwritten yet. As human beings with conditioned minds and limited human understanding, we will never know it all; and we were never meant to know it all anyway. The humility of this deserves to be treasured.
The quarter of initiation/mind
This is purpose fulfilled through the mind penetrating through what is going on. In this quarter is the realm of thinking, of learning, of conceptualizing, of witnessing, of educating and of sharing; and it contains an initiation, a leap beyond the boundary or norm.
Almost all gates associated with the solar plexus or emotional center are here, meaning that there will be quite a bit of emphasis of the mind focusing on its emotions, and why it feels the way it feels. The mind here is interested in the stories of the past, in the logic and analysis, in our ability to bring life into new forms and order.
For these natives, their lives must be interesting and they need to keep their minds satisfied with various topics and interests; and for long-term relationships to last, they’d need stimulating conversations, adventures, curiosity or spicing up things, because otherwise they’d be bored. It is precisely their mind desiring the interesting and needing to stay curious that pulls them forward to fulfill their purpose. There is a desire to learn something new, and perhaps even to be attracted to un-ordinary things or non-mainstream things, and that’s purposeful – because in order to initiate something, and push beyond the boundaries of the norm, one needs to have that passion, desire, courage and willpower to do so.
The quarter of civilization/form
This is purpose fulfilled through manifestation i.e. forming and shaping something from the unmanifest into the physical. This is about bringing something into form or experiencing our life deeply through our body, i.e. being deeply connected to our five senses and sensual self. Here we are no longer satisfied to hear from our mind how interesting something is, we need to experience it through our body. We do not want to look at photos of Santorini all day or hear about it, we want to get on that place, go on the beaches, feel the sand on our skin, feel the salted waters on our skin, hike up everywhere and anywhere, eat the delicious foods, dance and break some plates, and spend long sensual nights under the starry skies with our lover. We want to experience what we see and feel, and then, share it with others.
All the gates of the throat centers are in this quarter – so it is important to know the power of words and manifestation of our voice. It is important here to speak and share things, and there are usually natural storytelling gifts for these natives, or they just make beautiful writers, poets, teachers, sharing all they’ve seen, felt and experience. There is a natural ability to shape emotions, feelings and all that is unnamable only felt deep within, into words. So this manifestation purpose of this quarter here can create new words through emotions, new forms through dance, and all kinds of art that encompasses our within worlds.
There are so many things that they form and create, and so many possibilities and talents here; the gate of the storyteller is here, the gate of the revealer, and the gate of stillness – all through which new forms and creations can be born to add to the beauty and life of our world, of our society and civilization. So if you come through this second quarter, it is about your experience of life, sharing and communicating about it, and what you do to create through your body, through your lips and hands and movements, through your creation.
The quarter of duality/relationships
This is purpose fulfilled through bonding. We moved through the mind, through the body, and now – we meet the other. It does not mean that you’ll always be in relationships, and you might even be celibate, but throughout your life you’ll be interacting with people – and through those interrelations, you’ll be deepening into understanding and soul growth. There might be humbling acceptance of our need for others in our life, that we can’t do it alone, because everything in life is a relationship and we also depend on one another. This is a life of learning the spiritual lesson of interdependence, while also understanding that the hands that give are just as empty as the ones with the open empty palms who needed to receive.
This quarter begins with logic, with gate 7, which is about logically leading oneself into a better logically projected future; it is about the wise shepherd who has a natural leading ability, the gift to see when the current path needs to be corrected and the ability to then lead others into a better direction than the existing one. And this is the first step to this overall relationships quarter – because in life we want someone to walk with us on our true path, someone who understands and supports who we truly are, and we meet the right ones when we are our true selves and aligned to who we are and what we care about. It is also about a vision together.
This quarter also has gates related to the truth of what relationships are: there will always be conflict, there will always be confusion, there will always be misunderstandings and obstacles, but if both people are growing together, and stay hand in hand holding strong in love, compassion and support, and willingness to put in the effort, then all will be okay. It is about who do you choose to walk this life with and go through the hardships with? If both partners are devoted to expanding and growing within the relationship, it will be a fertile one. So in this life, it is about understanding the quality of relationships and what really matters.
The quarter of mutation/spirit
This is purpose of transformation; and the quarter begins with some very powerful creative gates, which are essentially giving the natives the powerful push to transform. There might almost of a “clock is ticking” feeling somewhere in the back of their minds since they are born, because in some ways it’s like they are aware of the limitation of time and want to do it all or as much as they can in this life. There are gates here of joy, of philosophy, of inner truth and hidden mysteries – so it is about answering the questions of, “Are you doing all you can in this life? Are you using your full potential?”
The transformation is a process of watching your consciousness change over time as you experience yourself differently as you age. You transform yourself through bringing your entire commitment to whatever you do, and then discover your true spirit through such dedication. It is through your strong desires and immense creativity – the fire of which will transform you and bring you to the unveiling of your true essence. You are here to make the most of your life and an awareness of the clocks ticking will allow you to push forward and give it your all.
This quarter focuses you on the need to empower your own spirit and to love being yourself, in full joy and amidst the philosophical questions or unknown mysteries of life, and through it all, no matter where it leads you. Stay true to what you love doing. You are here to be authentically yourself and to build that spiritual core with your unique spirit.
For one-on-one consultations to look into your entire incarnation cross and your profile, which shows what you’re made for, you are welcome to book a session with me through my offerings.
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