Our natal charts are essentially a spiritual study of that which is consumed by time. Every single one of us is a little seed, which has its unique burns from the sun, impressions and imprints from all the past lives, and its own nutritive cycle that it needs to grow as beautifully as it.
Once we understand our nature, our soil, our underground, the weather and the climate, then we know better how to grow in our own way and come into our full essence. Our natal charts show us these natures and cycles – for we need to know what to burn, what to eat and what needs to be devoured completely so that we reach our soul’s purpose. Everything in nature eats something else, and all needs to be nourished – so this is what our charts show.
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 fabric 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 it that drives us forward in life, and to become life.
A lot of life, and astrology too, can be explained by the simple philosophy of what I call The Three Fires of Time: wood, fire and smoke. When fire kisses the wood, the wood releases itself and rises in its aroma. The wood symbolizes our willingness to be known and the layers of ourselves that need to fall apart; the fire is the consciousness that desires to know us, and through that union of kiss, consciousness becomes more aware of itself, and we too become more aware of ourselves; and finally the smoke, the song of alchemy, our unfolding of the path, our true essence, our rising and our deepening of self – it is our true aroma that is unique only to us.
There is a weaving between willingness, consciousness and unfolding; and between past, presents and future. In the same way, the more aware we become by allowing these fires to kiss us and peel the layers of our bark that we no longer need, we come closer to ourselves. Transits and aspects, and relationships and anything else in life, is only for this purpose – to bring us closer to who we truly are, so that we are fulfilled in all ways.
I’ve previously written on the spiritual understanding of the planets in Spiritual Astrology, and Deeper Understanding of the Planets, and today we’ll have a free flow discussion as I share with you additional insights.
The universe is a living organism, and so are the planets also, each of which is an organ of consciousness – a certain body organ, a certain part, a certain of our body, a certain function. And then each one sends their messages and signals to the brain, which then compiles the information to fulfill its needs. It all works together within our natal chart. In this way, astrology is also a measurement of a biological mechanism, of timings and cycles, and cycles within cycles.
Our natal planets and positions are not mere planets outside of us in the sky – they are inner ones; and if one truly wants to transform their life they need to be able to learn how to work with energy, transform it and move into different expressions and manifestations of these.
Each manifestation of your planets and aspects isn’t just because of its exoteric way or karmic impulses, it is also due to its esoteric one – its inner movement and our own personal level of soul growth. This is because these organs of consciousness, known as planets, first affect our inner being, and from there on, with more self awareness, our experience of them may shift. With greater self awareness and soul growth, a person will experience their aspects differently; which is why you may sometimes see someone with disharmonious aspects, and yet the expressions of their aspects don’t show up as they would for another person with similar aspects but lower level of self awareness.
For example, to think of Saturn as bad is ignorant and limiting. Yes, there are certain things in life which will need to play their part in the river of life, because they have karmic impulses. But you can still have a way to flow with more ease and create clearer waters for the streams ahead.
Our birth is determined by very specific timings and planetary alignments, and it’s a small tight portal through which we can come in; because the exact second matters. We all have burnings from sun, and imprints from the past, and this is what the natal chart, and all divisional charts show us, so it’s no coincidence.
There are invisible law orders and spiritual orders that must be aligned to and fulfilled for a person to be born, and the humility of this deserves to be treasured; but at the same time, we are the ones holding our key thereafter, and while we are not masters of the universe and its order, we are certainly in charge of our self development and choices we make, which is the power of our free will. With more self awareness and self realization comes greater free will and more beneficial application of it along our way serving our higher path.
When people have the Venus influence upon them, she awakens love within them. For some she’d awaken the pure sublime love, and for others she’d awaken the contradictions or contrasts. Venus is copper, and tin is Jupiter. So a Venus needs the wisdom of Jupiter otherwise some people’s love may turn poisonous and unhealthy.
Mars is iron – and having too much of it in your system can make you unwell also; or you can become lazy, and no longer working or initiating. At the same time, some people may too active, and not able to manage that Marsian energy nor channel it healthily and be aggressive or harsh.
The Sun is gold; and this is the first question – how can we bring our inner aspects into precious metals. How do we turn our Venus into a precious metal that can be beautiful love for others and ourselves. The Sun is what pushes us towards knowing, and what peels the false layers off our bark so that we come into our true essence and wisdom.
One of the most interesting aspects of synastry is actually turning back the clocks to the day two people met – as it is these transits and how they were impacting each person that shows what the relationship will be for each of them individually and together; and what each of them needs to learn through their connection or what the purpose is or why they attracted it.
When Saturn influences their meeting, this is glue that would hold them because it is important for each of them spiritually. When the Moon connects them it will be emotionally rooted and nurturing these roots will nurture their own inner selves also. When Mars is influencing they are learning about channeling the element of fire, how they show up for others and how to make meals and warm the house rather than burning it all down.
In the synastry readings that I do for my clients I actually find their meeting transits holding the key insights; and then the synastry and composite just comfirm it – but those initially meetings and the starry skies that coloured it and breathed air into it, are always the key. This is also why if you want to renew your connection or infuse new energy into it, you can renew your vows during a more harmonious time that would serve your intentions forward.
When Saturn comes to you, you put your hands in the soil with humbleness and show him your dedication and work ethic; show him you stay true to your words and integrity, and learn the cycles of the land and the seasons. Hurry is a sign of fear and Saturn will slow you to show you trust and surrender. People who fear Saturn subconscious fear responsibility; and they need to learn discipline and self control and accountability, which is why the sixth house ruling these morals and ethics preceeds the seventh of relationships where Saturn rules over.
Without discipline and maturity, you can’t sustain relationships. The seventh house is also about creation itself – this is why it rules sexual intercourse and the creation between two people in whatever shape or form, including their dharma or karma created forward – so it shows that creation itself requires your maturity if you want it to last and be harmonious and beautiful.
When Saturn approaches you in influence you must remain humble, and surrender to the greater laws and divine orders. You must not criticize the divine, you must respect older people, you must respect heritage and lineage and roots and spiritual beliefs of others no matter how different from you they are. You must remain humble and respectful, otherwise you will expose yourself to the lessons of these, which may not feel pleasant.
When it comes to Venus – you must know wisdom to know love to know the heart. Venus is all that softens forms, so you must soften hands, soften mind, and open the doorways to your heart through your inner lantern of self development and spiritual growth; otherwise Venus will be your undoing. You must learn to love, and seek to build and expand your own capacity to love; it’s not about burning rugs of people and having many partners, it is about having your sense of value and self worth and not letting dirty feet walk your lands of love. It’s about purity of mind and heart and clear discernment and boundaries.
Venus is what brings joy and peace to people’s souls, so if that’s not what she is bringing you, you must shift your eyes inward. You can achieve Venus’ love by lighting the sacred fires in the altar of your heart and soul.
Depending on the person’s level of awareness Venus changes density of form. When she is her denser form and matter, she rules the blood circulation as she relates to our heart. She rules physical matter and beauty because this is how she pulls people towards her, because we are meant to be captured by love – moved by love. This is why she connects to scents of flowers and all of our senses and all beautiful movements and things – she is the master of forms.
But once captured by love, and seeing how it moves with gentleness and sweetness, now we are meant to see its essence of purity and lightness; which is why Venus at her high heart manifestation is about the higher spiritual purpose of the senses, touching the essence of things, embodying the virtues. Through understanding the higher spiritual purpose of the physical, we thereby transform it into a lighter form and matter. This is how she elevates us.
Masculine energy is harder or more tangible in matter, so thus it is quite fragile, and it can be broken, kind of like a lego block; while feminine energy is like water, kind of like jelly, it is adaptable and kind of molds and shapes itself. It can be stretched and twisted and hurt through the stretching, but it’s rare to be broken.
Venus is feminine energy, as is the Moon; and as such, the condition of someone’s natal Venus and the way she’ll act are greatly dependent and influenced by aspects from the energy of any of the masculine energies Mars, Saturn and Pluto especially. She absorbs into herself their energies, and if there are hard aspects it may feel harsher to her; either way, she’ll be expressing herself aligned to their direction more than her raw pure state that she would have flowed through originally.
This is why aspects to Venus and the Moon can sometimes even fully change the sign and elemental energies. In other words, someone who has Moon-Saturn aspect will act like a Capricorn Moon; or Venus-Pluto will act Plutonian and mistake attachment to love, and obsession to love, and needs to work on their inner attachments and control dynamics.
There was a man once, hundreds of years ago, who went to an astrologer who told him that at 29 years old he’d meet and fall in love with a beautiful woman; but that she’d then meet another man, a rich merchant from a distant land, who she’d end up marrying. At this point, the man will get angry and act out carelessly, and get himself into trouble, because he has a strong Mars energy etc. Well, we can’t approach astrology through a deterministic approach anymore; it is a living practice so it evolves just as consciousness evolves also. So what can the man do in order to not get into trouble?
The meeting is perhaps inevitable, as most meetings are, because they are part of karmic impulses and the energy will pull the two people together; I’ve talked about this in depth before why people meet, what to do, etc. The falling in love and her meeting the other man are probably inevitable also, especially since it connected to the Saturn return.
When she leaves him for the other man, this will create an intense build up within him; and now he has two choices, one would lead him down trouble if he acts impulsively and without awareness, while the other will be to harness the energy in a way that would serve him on a higher path. And so – when this energy within him intensifies and he is under the influence of the pressure from these forces within him, he can avoid doing something careless by harnessing the energy and channeling it in some work, both internally and externally.
He needs to direct his energy towards the branches of his life. This means he needs to understand the laws of transformed energies and learning how to harness his inner fires and aspects through various ways appropriate for him. When he falls in love with this woman he should also keep a door open in his heart for her to leave when the time comes. He must understand the spiritual purpose of this between them, and find the peace within. He must free himself from his self imprisonment and unhold his hands from the wheels of karma binding him; he must come into grace, and know that love is about freedom. If she still leaves, well, she was supposed to; just as he too will be with whoever he is supposed to in time.
I come from the belief that everything in the natal chart is absolutely perfect in order for the native to achieve their soul’s desire. People sometimes say “Oh Saturn in the 7th is bad” but most times, if not all times, I’ve actually seen this placement serve as a protection. Sometimes people think “Oh I have all these bad aspects” – but if we actually put it all together, you’ll see how each one is needed in order for your soul’s purpose to materialize. I had a client once with some Mars-Saturn aspects, so she certainly was a warrior, but this was needed for her because all her other aspects were gentle, harmonious, sweet and she was so kind hearted, that if it wasn’t for that aspect giving her armour of steel and unbreakable strength, people would have been taking advantage of her kindness continuously.
There is free will in astrology, just as there is free will in life. Don’t fear your inner aspects because this is only subconsciously separating your from yourself, because it’s as if you are fearing inner parts of yourself. Astrology is not meant to scare people nor make them feel powerless, it is only meant to enlighten you in awareness and serve your higher connection to the divine and your higher self. Of course, astrology is not for the faint of heart, just like real love isn’t for the faint of heart – it will show truths that we need to be willing to accept in ourselves, and it requires us to be radically self honest; and then, take our own key and make our own choices, hopefully more consciously, moving forward.
The path from our South Node to our North Node is known as the path of our consciousness, and this is very important. The South Node is that within us gives us a sense of comfort and security because we feel so attached to it, because it’s give us comfort and roots and home for many lives along our travels.
So for someone who has their South Node in the 8th house, this shows that they feel secure when they retreat to mysticism and their hidden cocoon of spiritual pursuits. They feel secure with few friends and seek a deeply emotional connection which goes way deeper than skin deep.
But where they are moving towards is their North Node in the 2nd, to learn what their needs are outside of others and to learn what they value, what they need, to express it and not settle for instabilities. They are here to experience stability, learn self reliance and become their roots, walk the beauty way, and their main life’s work revolves around how they feel about themselves, as well as investing in themselves and what they love to do in life, and take care of themselves, body and all health; because the 2nd house rules all movements that sustain us and it is a Venusian house, so it’s about our values, and learning how to work with her energy healthily. When we know what our values and needs are, naturally we’ll be able to recognize and choose our right one for us in a relationship, experiencing the depth of love we always desired.
What I love about spiritual astrology is that it inspires us to shift our eyes inward, follow a dharmic path and see the interconnection of all; to remain true and humble to the greater power and love that is, to the divine order of things and the greater weavings, while also balancing this knowing with our own sense of responsibility for our actions and for what we ourselves are capable of weaving and shaping through our hands and actions.
Spiritual maturity comes when we know how to balance the two – the humbleness, trust and surrender to the divine, and the power of our free will choices and wisdom of heart, which we develop through self awareness and apply through our every day efforts and choices and gestures along the circling staircases of life.
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