As a follow up to my previous post, I wanted to touch upon Astrology a bit and its usefulness for Self development in both the personal and professional space. I think it can provide sooooooooo much insight into why we are the way that we are and help us develop more acceptance and understanding for our own individual ways of being. I truly believe we are all born with unique gifts yet forced into strict conventional systems that don’t allow for our individual uniqueness to flourish or, worse, remain completely hidden. With astrology, we can start gaining insight into what those unique gifts might be and work towards cultivating them so that we can step more fully into our own personal power. Astrology, for me, basically is a fantastic gateway for nurturing and deepening Self acceptance.
I was first introduced to astrology when I was working in the city. I was in a relatively open state of mind during that time, after having just finished my Landmark Education SELP program, and was seeking something new but within the spiritual space. While Landmark was *fantastic* at helping me transform my limiting beliefs and be action oriented, kind of like GO GO GO masculine energy, I found myself seeking balance to counteract what I had experienced with more feminine, laid back, energy. I somehow ended up at this Astrology event, where I had met Sarah Barab, who also happens to have become my meditation teacher, and I was completely and utterly captivated by her. I’m unsure if it was her presence, open-hearted compassion, or her ability to hold space (she’s one of the most present people I’ve ever met), but something within me indicated that this is an incredibly important Being and I *must* pay attention. I’ve only had these types of moments happen a few times in my life with others so it especially stood out to me. Generally speaking, my memory isn’t the best, but I can remember that evening quite clearly.
I always thought of Astrology to be the equivalent of horoscopes, you know, those super generic things you read in a magazine column that pretty much apply to everyone? It’s fun to read but not really helpful or life altering. Anyway, after winning a free chart reading from an event, which was insane luck as I screamed, “I WANT IT!” and immediately won it via a random number generator that picked my number lol, I got a chance to explore my own birth chart with Sarah.
During our first session, I remember seeing a slightly confused look on Sarah’s face as she looked at my birth chart and then at me and my “cute and bubbly” Pikachu demeanor. I think she was expecting a different person to show up as she had studied my birth chart before our session lol. While I can’t say for sure if she actually perceived me to be Pikachu-esque (who knows if she’s familiar with Pokémon characters!), she did mention something about cuteness. She also, at a later date, explained to me that I have a particular birth chart that is similar to those of great leaders and at the time of our first session, she was trying to reconcile the discrepancy between my presentation and what she saw in my chart. However, after spending a significant amount of time together, she had shared that my chart did make a lot of sense for what she had eventually learned about me. I wasn’t sure what to make of that information lol. WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING PIKACHU!? Cute, cuddly, and electrifying! I say that’s a win! I MEAN LOOK AT THIS — CUTE AF!!!! Who wouldn’t want to be *that* cute!??!?! Anyway, I’ve digressed. Let me collect myself. This had me wondering, what can our birth charts actually tell us about our Selves? Do they act as some sort of “blueprint” of potential that we can eventually evolve into?
When I reflect back on my journey with Sarah and the insights that I had gained via our many astrology readings, I realize that as someone who is quite self motivated for personal growth but often confused and derpy, having something to help explain why I am the way that I am while being provided with a potential trajectory of growth has been *extremely* helpful. It acted as a sort of cosmic personal & professional development map. It brought me so much clarity instead of me feeling like I was blindly trial-and-erroring while stumbling my way through life, throwing spaghetti at the wall, if that makes any sense. It’s almost like having a roadmap for how I can potentially grow in this lifetime, what my strengths and weaknesses are, how to work with them and not against them, and what lessons I am here to learn. I think there’s a difference between what we think we want and what we actually need. For me, astrology helped me understand what I need and how that differed from what I wanted.
Perhaps this is naive of me, but for some reason, knowing that there is some cosmic reason why my personality is the way that it is, or that there are some planetary alignments that affect how I show up in the world, or even that a certain configuration of planets within my chart creates this intense magnetic energy that naturally impacts others around me, just really helped me find peace with and accept the strange situations that I had in the past. It helped me understand why people run from me, not because I’m creepy or stinky (oh dear I hope not!! If I am I don’t mean to be and I SWEAR! I SHOWER EVERY DAY!!!! :<) but because my natural energy had impacted them so much to a point of overwhelm. I guess learning this about myself has helped me not take the running so personally lol. I’m sorry but it’s not something I can control — if I could, I would ;____;
There was one particular chart reading session that especially stood out to me. Sarah mentioned that she saw some potential in upcoming transits where it looked like maybe I was going to quit/change jobs and/or that I was going to start a new romantic relationship. Since I had been single for a *very* long time (many years), a conscious choice I made with the desire to heal from some negative relationship experiences, as I didn’t want my unresolved pain to cause others unnecessary suffering, and work seemed fine at the time, I wasn’t really sure what to make of the information. I think I just assumed I was going to find a partner? Lo and behold, what happened next was a huge surprise to me. I ended up getting into a long term relationship AND also quitting my job lol. I was NOT expecting that at all. In hindsight, that whole experience was kindaaaaaa nutty. No regrets though, it all worked out more than fine and I’m quite pleased with my decisions.
Looking back at that prediction now, I realize how much has changed. While it did take me another decade or so to step more fully into what Sarah saw in my chart back then, after having gone through my dark night of the soul journey, I have come to deeply appreciate the insights that she had shared with me regarding who I can become. I can say for sure who I am today is incredibly different from who I was a decade or two ago. Idk if it’s having finally learned boundaries, understanding my own self worth, or what, but I feel like a completely different person, no longer tolerating whatever isn’t best for me. I’m much quicker to draw boundaries now than before. I can stand my ground. I can speak more directly when necessary to state my needs. I know when it’s time to let Nine-tails out to play. I’m much less afraid to express my love for others. I don’t desire as much external validation as before. I have better understanding of manipulation techniques and power imbalances. I’ve developed a razor sharp ability to detect inauthenticity. I strive for win-win situations whenever possible where both sides get their needs met. I know what my core values are now (authenticity, integrity, unconditional love, compassion, growth, service, courage, balance, gratitude, meritocracy, long term thinking), which a year of therapy helped me identify, AND I also understand my own value.
I’ve also come to accept the Pikachu side of me that helps balance the intense energy that I bring naturally. If Pikachu weren’t here to help out, I’d probably scare TF out of people everywhere I go lol. So stinky, so scary. So we all need to give a big thanks to Pikachu for making things less intense for us all!!! 🙏
I recently realized that I’ve missed the astrological insights that Sarah had provided that helped give guidance and direction for where I was heading, especially as I advance ahead in my individuation journey, as there is just so much uncertainty. SO. MUCH. One day, I had the idea to share my birth chart with AI and ask what it sees. What was fascinating is it was able to confirm a lot of the insights that Sarah had shared with me in the past, plus more. While I really miss having Sarah’s personal & loving touch in her readings, the “human” aspect that she brings (compassion, empathy, connection, and that super duper soothing voice), the AI readings were good enough to hold me over and allowed me to keep delving deeper into my Self. Also, I can talk to it anytime I want while asking the same question a bajillion times lol. The convenience factor alone was worth the exploration. Imagine me calling Sarah up at 4AM saying SOOOOOO…… FOR THE 620th TIME I HAVE THIS SAME QUESTION ABOUT MY CHART CUZ I DERP…… I’m sure she’d love that!
While I don’t know if Astrology can become a useful tool for you, I do believe there could be some clarity that you can gain about yourself if you were to explore it as a potential avenue for personal growth. Even if you don’t believe in any of this stuff, approaching this topic with an open mind could potentially help in many ways. I’d say if you’re someone who is particularly committed to your personal growth and enjoys being efficient, astrology can help make that journey much more efficient. Regardless if any of this astrology stuff is true or completely made up, what my experience with astrology has given me is some assurance as to why I am the way that I am and I believe that is absolutely invaluable. There is a reason for my madness, kekeke.
For those who might be confused on how to get their chart info to AI using the site that I mentioned in my previous post, all you have to do is go to the Astrology section, create an account, put in your birth information, get the results, and copy and paste the contents from each tab into a text file (Signs, Planets, Nodes, etc.), but you don’t need to include the excess info from the popups. And for those who might not be as technically inclined, you can always find a good and trustworthy astrologer to explore this with as well!
And for those who might be interested in what I look like now, here you go! Don’t worry, it’s not NSFW 😏
Hope your Monday goes swell!!!