Psychological astrology dictates that every person arrives on this planet with specific proclivities, strengths, and liabilities. It’s a way of understanding what our “life school” is this time around: where we’re meant to explore and grow, and where we are naturally strongest. An understanding of our own birth charts supports us to live into the complete fullness of our unique selves and to better understand and appreciate the uniqueness and potential of others. An important note: Psychological astrology is not about prediction and ironclad fate; it is about using our unlimited capacities to learn and grow and make the most out of our inherent assets and challenges. Even a basic understanding of the planetary placements in your birth chart—especially your sun, moon, and rising signs—can be profoundly useful in your everyday life. Here’s how: Each of these signs also has a less skillful side. When less self-aware or under more stress, a Capricorn Sun person can become controlling, forget to rest, and be overly needy of external approval; an Aries Moon can fly off the handle or feel constantly in need of attention around their emotional state; and a Leo rising can hog the spotlight and fail to let others shine. This basic knowledge of myself helps me care for myself and others well and to course-correct toward being my better self when I am less skillful in my life or relationships. Knowing our most important values is a big part of making decisions responsibly, and knowing the planetary placements in our birth chart can add much to our understanding of those values. I’m not suggesting that you should consult an astrologer to figure out where to go to lunch or which sweater to buy online. But the deeper your understanding of your birth chart—including where all your planets sit in signs and astrological houses and how they sit in relationship to one another—the more clearly you can step outside of the tension and confusion that can accompany the making of a big decision and into a better sense of which direction. As we move through a world that can sometimes seem to make no sense, we can turn to psychological astrology to better understand the cosmic energies at play in current events. A look at the current placements of the planets called cycles, or transits, can help us orient ourselves with these energies and to work with them rather than against them. If you make a habit of doing this, you’ll begin to see patterns and to feel more at home in the world. Patterns and behaviors will make more sense to you. and you will have more self-awareness and agency to address recurring themes. You’ll come to feel that you are not a single being flailing around in a chaotic universe—you are part of a glorious movement of forces that began at the start of time and will continue for long after you are gone.
