The Spiritual Significance of the Planetary Alignment at Your Birth - How is astrology useful?
What is
Astrology?
by Ask a Healer
This is part of a series on alternative medicine therapies. It may seem strange that I have included astrology in a list of this type. To me, it is a form of alternative medicine
because it helps a person understand their life ... well, maybe it's more of a mental health therapy. In any case, here's some VERY basic information about astrology.
Astrology has different levels of significance and meaning, to different people. For some, it is reading the horoscope on yahoo. To others, it is a form of spiritual divination. For others, like myself, it's a way of getting a general overview of the planetary influences inherent in the birthdate chosen by the soul. An astrologist studies the positioning of stars, planets, sun and moon with regard specific meaning those positions may hold relative to a person's birth. An astrologist will consider the placement of planetary factors to be influential in a person's life and can create a chart that illuminates challenges, strengths and general life path options.
Like any sort of spiritual tool, astrology has the potential to become a spiritual crutch. Some people will not make a decision without consulting their astrological chart and, to me, that's giving it too much power. An unhealthy dependence on astrology can develop, similar to the dependent pattern of checking with your psychic before doing much of anything. While useful as a tool for guidance, psychic readings and astrology may start to replace a person's own intuitive knowing and that can sometimes lead to an unhealthy dependence.
In my own life, learning more about the astrological influences that were in play at the time of my birth has been useful. Not only did it help me understand part of the reasons my soul may have chosen the timing it did, I have also found it usesful in helping me get a broader perspective on basic personality strengths and areas of challenge associated with my astrological sign. These strengths, personality traits, and areas of challenge are experience I chose to play with this time around so it's useful for me to know what they are.
Beyond that, I do not allow the placement of the stars to dictate what happens in my life. For me, it is sort of a container that helped form my entry into this plane for certain purposes my soul decided on. I can change that at any time and have, several times in my life.
The Astrological Chart:
To start creating an astrological chart, the astrologist will map out the planets, including the sun and the moon, at time of a person's birth. In order to determine the position of the planets, sun, and moon for preparing an astrological chart, a person needs to supply the astrologist with the exact location where they were born, the exact time of birth, and the date of birth.
Planets listed on astrological chart
: Sun and Moon (both considered as planets by astrologists), Pluto,
Neptune, Uranus, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. The earth is not
included in the astrological chart because earth is the point in the universe
from which we view the other planets.
An astrological chart includes
information in twelve "houses" with each house representing a particular
aspect of a person's life, (health, romance,vocation,family, etc.). Of the
12 houses represented, two remain empty or vacant. These indicate areas of
life that you did not choose to work with or experience this time around, as I
understand it. You may have already mastered money issues, for example so
maybe that area is clear for you this time.
The position of the sun in your astrological profile determines what is called your sun sign. Study of an astrological chart begins with the factors associated with your sun sign. After that, the positions of the other planets are studied in relation to the sun sign. Then, the position of what is called the "moon sign" is studied, as it relates to the rest of your chart.
By reading the astrological chart, the skilled astrologist can get a pretty good general sense of the life path a person came in to fulfill. Surprisingly accurate, astrological charts often describe the personality of the individual very clearly and a person can recognize themselves in what the chart reveals and begin to understand that they came in with certain personality characteristics that were chosen when they chose the date of birth as spiritual beings wishing to have an experience of life on earth.
A different perspective on astrology:
I was introduced to the frequency artwork of Bryan DeFlores many years ago. I love his images and have many of his templates. He has a view of astrology that I share as well.
Bryan says "The fact is that many of our lives are no
longer governed by astrological dates and the shifting of the planets,
but by the assimilation of parallel aspects of Self and our own shifts
in consciousness. This means that many of us are now directing our
own paths and are leaving the lower physical sphere of influence. Our
day-to-day lives are determined not so much by the shifting of the
planets, sun, moon and stars, but by our own thoughts, words and actions."
Please note: An astrological chart is a fairly dry piece of information. It's only through the interpretation offered by a skilled astrologists that it makes much sense to me, personally. So, the experience level of the person creating the chart is important to me. A person with long years of experience would appeal more to me that someone just starting out, although I am sure some are just gifted from the beginning to interpret charts with skill.
