What is it that allows you to wake up in the morning feeling energized and inspired?

The particulars are going to vary, but I think the majority of us feel most alive when we experience being aligned with some greater purpose. 

That purpose is often related to becoming more of who we are, to giving ourselves permission to freely and unselfconsciously use all of our natural gifts , and to having the willingness and the courage to continually grow, learn and stretch ourselves in order to live a truly authentic life.

We all know what it feels like when we are totally engaged in our lives, and how deeply satisfying it is when we experience being in the flow with all cylinders firing. But too frequently we lose our connection with that full on sense of aliveness. And when we do find it again we often don’t know how we got there or how to get it back when it’s gone.

So we need a map. How often have you heard someone say I wish I had gotten an instruction manual for my life. Well, the truth of it is that there is just such a thing. And that thing is called a natal astrological chart.

Your astrology chart is essentially a blueprint for how to achieve your soul’s optimal growth in this life and paints a picture of your inner world that can help you understand your needs, desires and motivations more deeply. 

But it also answers the question of : Why are you here? What are the specific tasks you need to undertake to fulfill your unique destiny? What lessons are you here to learn? What are the challenges you need to embrace that will allow you to feel like you are growing and transforming?

Your natal chart is more than just your sun sign. It includes all the planets in our solar system, and each of these planets is a metaphor for a different operating systems in your psyche.

Understanding these systems and how they all work together is like having a guidebook for your life complete with detailed instructions about how to make the most positive use of your planetary energies and how to effectively deal with the challenges presented by your chart.

I have included a short description below of the individual planets and the psychological issues that each one addresses to give you some sense of the rich information that your natal chart can offer you.

The Sun symbolizes your sense of purpose and identity. It helps you to organize your life around your most cherished values. It gives you suggestions about how to maintain your greatest sense of vitality , sanity and joie de vivre and shows you where and how you need to shine in the world.

The Moon is your soul. And it communicates to you through your feelings. It gives you constant messages about your authentic emotional needs, pointing you unerringly in the direction of what makes you genuinely happy and showing you how to nourish and nurture your deepest hearts desires.

The Ascendant is your style, your persona and how you are perceived by others when they first meet you. It gives you information about the best way to present yourself and the personality traits you need to develop and embrace that will give you the greatest ongoing sense of confidence and effectiveness as you move through the world.

Mercury is your mind, your intellect, your natural mode of perception and where and how you focus your attention. It is also related to the expression of your authentic voice and is the channel through which you think, learn and communicate.

Venus is your heart. It paints a picture of your natural soul mates, what you need in order to be fulfilled in love, how you give and receive goodness and abundance on all levels and describes your gifts and talents in the realms of art and creativity.

Mars is your passion and drive. It asks and answers these questions: What lights your fire and makes you hot? What scares AND excites you? And in what areas of your life do you need to face your fears by taking bold and courageous action?

Jupiter is your connection to faith, hope and optimism. It shines a light on what comes easily to you, where you might be naturally lucky but also reveals where and how you sell yourself short, and in what areas of your life you might consider taking some outrageous risks.

Saturn is the reality principle and the hard work miracle. It’s the place in your chart where you are being called upon to develop mastery and maturity, to stand in integrity, to follow through on your intentions no matter what and perform a great work thus developing a natural sense of your own authority.

Uranus is the revolutionary and your gateway to freedom. It shows you where you need to liberate yourself from societal constraints and expectations, free yourself from oppression on all levels and break any outmoded rules that are holding you back from being fully yourself. It also points the way for what it looks like for you to follow your own wild and quirky individual life path.

Neptune is your portal to the Sacred. It’s the invisible doorway into the numinous and the Great Mystery. It’s your gateway to magic and the multi-dimensional realms. It reveals how you connect most naturally with a sense of inspiration, intuition, imagination, spirituality and the higher octaves of love and divine compassion.

Pluto is the symbol of your greatest wound. It’s your connection to the deep well of your unconscious, the shadow realms of your psyche, and all the parts of you that you have rejected or repressed out of shame and fear. It is also an invitation into the transformational healing process of death and rebirth which happens by surrendering to your emotional intensity, claiming the raw realness of your emotional truth and the willingness to be nakedly emotionally honest. And is the source of your greatest power and most profound medicine once the original wound is embraced and healed.

And finally, the Nodes of the Moon give you a clear picture as to the nature of your souls evolutionary journey.

The South Node of the Moon is your past. It points out the deeply familiar karmic patterns of your life that are enormously compelling but ultimately frustrating due to their repetitive nature and their tendency to lead to endless dead ends, what I often call Spiritual Ground Hog Day.

The North Node of the Moon is your future. It directs you to the cutting edge path of growth that will put you on track with your ultimate evolutionary goal leading you to a greater sense of meaning, fulfillment and radical aliveness.

So take some time to look at your own chart with some of these concepts in mind or treat yourself to an in depth reading with a competent astrologer.

And if you would like to have a deep dive compassionate exploration into the world of your OWN Natal Chart, sign up for an Astrology reading with me by clicking on the pretty purple button below.