First, let’s get a good understanding of what the birth chart represents. I see it as the blueprint of your life that shows both your challenges and the seeds of your potential. When I began to study astrology along with my birth chart, I remember thinking; gosh, there is a great intelligence behind all of this. In defining what this intelligence is, here are the thoughts of some great astrologers………….

Howard Sasportas: The Core Self in the Birth Chart

One way I find meaning in life is through the belief that we all have a deeper self or a Core Self that guides, unfolds and regulates our growth and development. Just as an apple seed ‘knows’ that it is meant to grow into an apple and not a pear, there is part of us that ‘knows’ what we are meant to become and the path we need to follow to get there. Concepts such as individuation, self-realization and self-fulfilment describe the process of what we are meant to become.

Robert Hand puts it like this:

It is my belief which I cannot prove, that within each of us is a creative core that actively creates the universe, either by making up each part out of nothing or by agreeing in advance, prior to our physical incarnation, to play a certain game with certain rules. In this scheme, your horoscope is a symbol of your intentions, not a record of what is going to happen to you. As astrologer Zipporah Dobyns likes to say, character is destiny.

Liz Green: there is a deeper Self-guiding to our development. I make no pretense of knowing what ‘it’ is but I am unashamedly prepared to call it fate.

Whatever this intelligence is, be it your higher Self, core Self, Soul, or the source that runs and creates the universe. One of the main things that astrology does, it connects you to it! The birth chart reveals the nature of our seed and is a map or guide suggesting what our deeper core self has in mind for us.

Can we mess things up? We can and do. Our personality and the little will try to steer the ship with its own desires. However, knowing your birth chart can get you back on course. Understanding your challenges helps in dealing with them and awareness of your potential aids their development.

Transits

Everything is energy and we are all part of the evolutionary process. Transits to your chart are the way to move you forward, making you grow and evolve. By understanding the core messages in your chart, you can glimpse the significance of what each transit is trying to bring about.

For some, astrology becomes a search for meaning, for others to understand their role and life. Its value lies in its ability to connect you back to your true self and your uniqueness and sense of power.