Taking a Closer Look at my Astrological Gene
I’m a woman in search of my soul, trying to find my unique connection to the divine as I understand it to be. I’ve always known that one of my major goals in this lifetime was living a spiritual path that rang true to me. I’ve spent decades fine-tuning, soul searching, reading, studying, and learning about everything that resonated with me deep in my core. This journey has led me to live my life with much more awareness because now I allow everything I do to be an opportunity for spiritual growth. The more I allow this to happen the more and more opportunities present themselves.
So it was no surprise when I was cleaning out an old bookshelf in the corner of my art studio and found a folder partially shoved between the shelf and the wall. I pulled it free and looked over the red paper folder. I ran my fingers along the worn edges and pulled back the cover. There inside was my handwriting along with a painstakingly drawn circle with intersecting lines. There were a lot of handwritten pages behind the first, and as I flipped through them, I couldn’t help but smile. Bittersweet, but a smile nonetheless and I wondered why I hadn’t put this folder somewhere safe instead of accidentally coming across it two decades later.
Over two decades. Had it really been that long? No way…Those impressionable years of my life were full of self-discovery as I was courageously coming into my own and finally taking control of my life. It was also a period in my life during which one of the most insightful developments in my spiritual journey occurred.
During my late teens I began studying the occult more seriously. I had already been reading the Tarot for several years and I was always fascinated by the connection between the suits, the elements, and astrology. So when I came across an enormous tome on astrology at a garage sale, I considered it to be quite a find. It’s one of those things I purged during one of my later moves, and I regret not keeping it.
It took me all summer, but I read through that astrological reference ‘bible’ with its crinkly paper-thin pages and writing as dry as stale bread. Its only saving grace was its intricate illustrations. Since there was a step-by-step section on how to draw your own natal chart, I decided to take on the big task of drawing my own. It proved to be much more difficult than I had anticipated.
Before reading my garage sale find and getting a glimpse of the sheer magnitude of astrology, the most I knew about it was that I was a Cancer sun sign, just like my grandmother. She liked to remind me of our little corner of the zodiac and would explain our Cancerian traits at the same time she was teaching me to roll out pie crust. My life, like hers, would be filled with sentimentality to the extreme, a tendency towards crabbiness, but lots of love to make up for it, and the joy of nurturing others with homemade pot pies and jelly rolls. I was about to learn that there was so much more to me than the well-known sun signs, and when I began researching, it seemed like a bottomless pit (and in many ways it still is).
It didn’t take me long to find out that I was in over my head and that it was a project that was going to take me longer than just a lazy Sunday afternoon. There wasn’t a lot of readily available information out there for me to get my hands on as this was during the late 1980’s, so there was no internet option to explore. No copy and pasting or software program. It took patience, something I have always been short on, and this was a rather good lesson for it. I spent plenty of time at the local library. I raided friend’s bookshelves and then the bookshelves of their friends, their parent’s friends, etc. and I was thrilled when I finally got my hands on a real ephemeris.
When I was finished I could plainly see where in my life I had already traversed, and there appeared to be a clear trend of what lay ahead. I was in awe, as it clearly pinpointed certain times in my life with amazing accuracy. It was worth every intersecting line I drew, and every degree I counted. The research and understanding of the houses and other key components finally fell into place and began to make sense. I had connected the dots, creating an amazing map of my life’s path and my unique spiritual journey. I had in my hands a powerful tool to aid me in my spiritual growth. My natal chart gave me a closer look at who I was and the amazing outlook on who I had the potential to be.
Several years after my Grandmother passed away, I obtained her birth-date information and drew her natal chart which showed striking similarities to my own. Signs, planets and houses were just the tip of the iceberg. There were traits about myself that I was already aware of, but to what depth they reached was unknown to me until I took on the adventure of drawing my birth chart. After its completion I had a firm grasp on where I had been and a better idea of where to go from there. It was now easier to see the best choices I could make in order to develop my strengths, and I now had a deeper understanding of how I could effectively ease or overcome my weaknesses. There would be dangers and pitfalls to look out for during certain times in my life and plenty of opportunities that are worth a second look. My natal chart was (and still is) my soul’s compass and although I have since printed it out from several different websites over the years, I am proud to say that my original hand drawn one matches up perfectly. The original is now safely tucked away in my old sentimental box of treasures and keepsakes.
Do you feel your soul’s compass?
Many Blessings on your journey )O(
The Zen Witch 