How Astrology Shaped My Worldview…
…and Became a Gateway to My Soulful Inner Nature
“The seat of the soul is where the inner and outer worlds meet.”
Joseph Campbell
WTF should I do?!
What does my Soul want me to know about this situation?
This was a new reframe for me when things got difficult, and a question I began asking myself somewhere along my growth journey, once I found Astrology.
Several years prior to this, I discovered Hatha Yoga, Ram Dass, and Eastern philosophy, which introduced me to spirituality and this idea of having a soulful nature (beyond the western concept of it.) Yet, it wasn't until finding Astrology that I truly became actively and consciously engaged with my own spiritual and soulful nature.
The universal laws and concepts of Incarnation and Soul Evolution had always interested me, yet, despite devouring everything I could by Ram Dass, Eckhart Tolle, and the like, they remained elusive.
Eventually, it began to feel like a crutch - I only felt spiritual when I listened to them, and when the recording stopped, it wasn’t long before I was back in my old mindset - what gives?
Simply being aware that I was a soul living out a human experience wasn’t quite enough for me to stay in that perspective, especially when life got tough, and there was no Ram Dass lecture playing on my phone to remind me of that in the moment.
So, I found myself thinking, ‘how did Eckhart Tolle stay in that “witness” state he talks so much about?’
Ram Dass would probably say ‘it’s all part of the experience baby - don’t get so caught up in it. Enjoy the ride….’
And he wouldn’t be wrong in saying that, but clearly something still felt like it was missing for me, when it came to relating with the unknown and the unseen things in life.
If I have a Soul, how do I get in touch with it? How do I know when I’m in touch with that part? How do I deepen the connection with this part of myself? How do I default to this perspective even when times are tough or mundane?
It seemed to me, after devouring many Ram Dass talks and books on Eastern Philosophy, that we’d want to find a way to connect with this part of ourselves more deeply, and to consciously engage with it on a daily basis, to better support us in life - but how?
Turns out, I needed a symbolic language to help translate what my soul was trying to communicate. My own personal dialect, if you will.
I was also needing a framework to…
help me navigate my fears with, and find trust in, the unknown,
deepen the connection with my inner and outer self, and the world around me,
bring richer context and purpose to my experiences, and…
to challenge me when I am too sure of what I think I know (this is a big one, phew),
but most importantly, to help me ground my Soul wisdom into tangible action…
…because it was clear that none of this spiritual stuff matters, if we aren’t using it to help better ourselves and the world around us - to be of service and pay it forward.
“Astrology is just a finger pointing at reality.”
Stephen Forrest
In comes Astrology, where I discovered something called a natal chart. It’s a custom roadmap for your life from your soul’s perspective, and it gave me everything I needed to deepen my relationship with my soulful nature, and the unknown, in a way that felt true for me.
Astrology not only became a gateway to my Soulful inner nature, but also a supportive tool, an expanded perspective, and a wholistic framework to fall back on when I need guidance, or support in making tough decisions. Astrology is a metaphoric language for me to communicate with the universe.
The pattern recognition, the personal context and purpose, the bone-deep resonance of truth, and the practical directives that come with seeing and engaging with the world in this way, were enough evidence for me that there really is something to this ancient science and this big vast universe we live in.
I just need to stay open and curious. When I choose to believe in something greater than myself, and pay attention to the subtleties in life, there is an intelligence coming from a higher place, an intelligence that has done this before and is available to support me.
Without an expanded framework, like Astrology, my spiritual worldview wouldn’t have any structure, direction, or practical application to it.
But let’s not get too carried away…
While Astrology brought nuance and color to my world - a world that was otherwise lackluster - having an expanded and deepened awareness led to a very over-stimulating life.
Constantly translating my day-to-day happenings, and looking up my current cosmic cycles, quickly led to a hyper-vigilant burnout.
While my newfound perspective was incredibly healing in many ways, life can be hard enough just being in it, even without some profound inner knowing on why you’re in it.
This is when I realized how important it was for me to find a method that helped me surrender to life and accept where I was at, without always having to know why and where and what and when, and how, etc…so
What do you do, when you understand why you’re growing through it…
…yet you’re still struggling with the idea of how it "should” be, and not allowing things to move and unfold at their own pace instead?
Balance and discernment. I needed to balance out my cerebral side that had started this side-quest, while also discerning when to refer to the cosmos, so that I could stay anchored in trust without having to always know why - enter spirituality and a full circle moment realization.
Yes, it is helpful (and healing) to have a framework to navigate things when we need to. However, we also need to cultivate practices to help us build trust in the unknown, and to find grace when we can’t; otherwise, we begin to spiral out of control, all in an attempt to be in control.
This is where I find relating and engaging with your soulful nature, beyond your astrological framework, can be extra supportive on your growth journey. Being in tune with your soulful nature can keep you grounded, as you soften into the discomfort of letting go of when (and what) your rational mind cannot grasp, or comprehend, the complexity of your experience.
However, when it comes to creating a relationship with this inner part of you, it’s important to know that all roads lead back home. So, only you can find your way to this knowing, only you can know when you have found it, and only you can choose to keep seeking this knowing, even when you feel lost.
For me, coming home to this knowing started with a curiosity about the Soul during a challenging time, which led me to Astrology, which led me right back to my Soulful nature…but with a much deeper, richer, and more practical foundation this time around.
Now it’s a matter of remembering to reframe my experiences, by invoking this soulful essence into everything I do - especially when life gets challenging. So next time you’re growing through a difficult situation, try reframing it and see what happens:
WTF should I do?!
“What does my soul want me to know about this?”
“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”
William Blake
