Natal Astrology: The Map of Your Life
Natal astrology is essentially, the interpretation of your birth chart. Different astrologers have slightly different interpretations of the various different placement of the planets and other celestial bodies etc.
What Exactly Does a Birth Chart Show Astrologers?
In short, it shows the life YOU chose to experience…
The explanation will vary quite widely from astrologer to astrologer but from a New Age spiritual standpoint, it reveals what you chose to experience in this incarnation.
That includes the personality you chose to wear, the events — both major and minor —- that you planned to experience, the sort of life challenges (lessons) you chose to go through, the family and friends you chose to have, who you wished to be connected to romantically, and essentially, any other important aspect of life like life purpose, skills, talents, hobbies, interests, career, and potential.
We sit down with our guides as Souls on the Other Side and with them, plan what we think we would like to experience in the physical world. And all this is, to some extent, reflected in the birth chart which is a snapshot of the heavens. If we wanted to have a different incantational experience, we would have incarnated at a different time.
As Souls, we may choose to bite off more than we can chew in the physical because in Spirit, everything just seems so easy and effortless and anyway, our physical lives pass by in the blink of an eye as our eternal Souls see it! So, if there is quite a bit of hardship in your life, or life seems to flow especially easily, know that it’s likely you chose whatever you chose at a Soul level for your own learning and experience.
Birth Chart Components
The main parts of your birth chart:
1. The planets: The Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
I’ve written detailed articles on each planet and they can be found here (just click on a planet to load the article). Each planet represents a different part of us. For example, our core personality is revealed by the Sun’s placement. Our communication style, intellect, and thinking is ruled by Mercury. Our drive, instinct, and ambition is shown by Mars’ placement, and so on…
2. The twelve houses: As in, the sign on the cusp of each house. This includes the all-important Rising sign (ascendant). Please see my article on the 12 houses for more detail. The houses show you where life events play out.
3. Major natal aspects: How each component in your chart relates (in terms of angles) to other parts. The main aspects are conjunctions, squares, trines, oppositions, and sextiles. You can read more about these (and the minor ones) in my detailed aspects article.
The lesser discussed parts of your chart:
4. Asteroids and comets: Chiron (a minor planet), Eros, Juno, Vesta. More about these in my asteroids and chart points article.
5. Calculated chart points: The lunar nodes (north node and south node), Arabic lots like Part of Fortune, Vertex, Anti-vertex, Black Moon Lilith and Dark Moon Lilith. The two lunar nodes are especially interesting. The North Node indicates your Soul’s direction and destiny in this lifetime. Your South Node reveals your immediate past life personality, but also the patterns, karma, and inborn skills you picked up from all of your previous incarnations. Together, they show you where you’ve been and what you’ve learned (in your past lives) and what your Soul wishes to experience and learn now (in this life).
6. Degrees: The degrees the planets are in. Please see article linked above for more information about these mathematical points.
7. Minor natal aspects: These are semi-sextiles, inconjuncts (also known as quincunx), semi-squares, sesquiquadrates, quintiles, and septiles.
The 12 Zodiac Signs
In order, the astrological signs are:
- Aries
- Taurus
- Gemini
- Cancer
- Leo
- Virgo
- Libra
- Scorpio
- Sagittarius
- Capricorn
- Aquarius
- Pisces
Each sign has it’s own set of attributes and is linked to one of the 12 houses.
Each sign is also each associated with a quality (or modality), a gender (masculine or feminine), and an element (fire, earth, water, or air). Please see my article on the qualities/modalities for more information.
I’ve written detailed articles on each of the four elements as there’s so much to each one. These can be found in my learning category — along with a lot more articles on astrology!
Karmic Lessons
If you have a lot of one thing; of one sort of energy in your chart, there may be a lesson tied to it. For instance, I have a lot of different signs in my chart (most planets are in different signs), but I have a lot of fixed energy (Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio are all fixed signs). Fixed energy, in short, is as the name suggests; rooted, fixed in one place and difficult to shift. It’s stubborn. I am stubborn. My opinions and viewpoints are challenging to alter. Since I have Gemini Rising, however, there is some leeway as Gemini is a mutable (adaptable and flexible), sign.
My largely fixed nature could have been something that I’ve been grappling with in many previous lifetimes. Intuitively, I feel it is. And so, in this lifetime, I’ve incarnated once again with it in my chart in order to try and temper it.
To use another example, if someone has a lot of mutable energy, they could be too open and susceptible to other people’s ideas, opinions, and energies. They might not rely enough on their own thoughts, opinions, and intuition to guide them through life. As such, their challenge could be to learn to trust themselves more and not allow others to influence them as much.
The same applies to having a lot of one element or one sign in the chart. For instance, someone with a lot of fire in their chart may be quick to anger and they’re learning to be more at ease and go with the flow. Of course, having a lot of one energy in the chart does not always indicate an area for growth. My grandmother, for example, had a lot of Leo (fire) energy in her chart and her overall character was peaceful, open minded, and diplomatic.
The Big Three and The Big Six
I’m sure you’ve heard of the big three in astrology? And the big six? If not, or to refresh your memory, these indicate the three OR six of the most important placements in your chart.
The Big Three
These comprise your Rising sign (ascendant) which is the sign located on the cusp of the 1st astrological house; the Sun placement (sign and house), and the Moon placement (sign and house).
The Big Six
These expand on the big three. They comprise the sign and house placements of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars (all of the personal planets) in your chart — plus, your Ascendant.
Transits and Progressions
Since the Earth and other celestial bodies are always in motion, horoscopes are popular astrological readings. By looking at how your birth chart relates to the movement of the heaves, predictions (to some extent) can be made about how you will feel, what you will be doing etc, in the future. Sometimes, in the far future!
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