ARTICLE:
Finding Your Soul’s Purpose
Each of us has a purpose, whether we know it or not – a reason that we came into this world. Each of us has a deeper meaning behind the events and patterns of our lives if only we could see it. Over the past thirty years of doing more than 6000 Readings for clients, one of the questions I most frequently get asked is, “What is my Purpose?”
While there are any number of ways that we can approach finding an answer to this question, these are some of the tools that we have. To begin with, I take a look at my client’s Astrological Birth Chart. In Astrology this is called the NATAL CHART and it contains a blueprint of the energetic alliances made between the various planets at the time that a person is born. If a person knows how to can read it properly, it will give us major insights into the deeper reasons why a Soul may have chosen to come into this life.
Our NATAL CHARTS reveal many insights about our current strengths and weaknesses, the direction of our intended life’s work, and the Core Wounding Pattern that we are carrying with us from early childhood. When we examine the clues from our NATAL CHARTS, we can see various patterns of who we are to become in the energetic alignments of the various planetary bodies. These indications are always related to our LIFE’S MISSION if only we can decipher the overall pattern. Indications of past abilities, perhaps earned in other lifetimes, can also be seen through the NATAL CHART.
INDICATIONS OF OUR PAST TALENTS AND GIFTS THROUGH THE MOON
For example, the position of one’s Moon and one’s South Node are both major indicators of abilities you have cultivated in the past. Here are some examples of what the Moon’s position in your NATAL CHART may indicate from your past:
Moon in Aries is indicative of a Warrior, an Athlete, a Fighter or a Champion of a cause.
Moon in Taurus is indicative of a Farmer, Tradesman, Healer, Builder or emotional anchor.
Moon in Gemini is indicative of a Thinker, Inventor, Communicator, Traveler or high Creative.
Moon in Cancer is indicative of a Midwife, Community Leader, Caretaker or Home Body.
Moon in Leo is indicative of an Artist, an Actor, a high Creative, or Charismatic Leader.
Moon in Virgo is indicative of a Healer, a Priest or Priestess, or a detail-oriented person.
Moon in Libra is indicative of a Counselor, Mediator, Diplomat, Artist or Peacemaker.
Moon in Scorpio is indicative of a Detective, Seer, Initiate, Executor or Keeper of Secrets.
Moon in Sagittarius is indicative of a Teacher, Philosopher, Educator or Traveler.
Moon in Capricorn is indicative of a Judge, Businessman, Leader, King or government employee.
Moon in Aquarius is indicative of a Philanthropist, Humanitarian, of New Age Thinker.
Moon in Pisces is indicative of a Mystic, Artist, Pastor, Musician, Painter or Spiritual Leader.
You get the point.
And this is only one of about 100 things that we can look at in a NATAL CHART, including how the male and female aspects of the personality can work together (or not) to help you create a new destiny or purpose.
INDICATIONS OF OUR PURPOSE OR OUR DESTINY IN OUR NORTH NODE
We can also see indications of what the Soul must learn to integrate in this life by looking at the Houses and signs of the North and South Nodes. The South Node is another indicator of past life experiences, areas in our life that we may have mastered in the past, and are thus quite comfortable with. This area of who we are may feel like old comfortable shoes that we love wearing and easily know how to fill.
Yet while we may be innately good at these areas of our lives, we may not get to fully embrace them this time around. Rather it is the position of our NORTH NODE that tells us the direction of our Life’s Purpose. The NORTH NODE indicates the arc of the learning we must achieve to move to the next level of our spiritual and personal growth. It is a major indicator of Destiny, telling us what we are meant to master this time around. For example:
When our North Node is in Aries we are meant to become a champion, an athlete, a catalyst, or a fighter for a cause, but we are also challenged to learn how to govern our anger, impulses and emotions.
When our North Node is in Taurus we are meant to focus on groundedness, loyalty, healing, nutrition, the body, animals, plants and the Earth, but we are challenged to overcome stubbornness or rigidity in thinking.
When the North Node is in Gemini we are meant to focus on learning, communication, and the expression of our wonderful creative abilities, yet we are challenged by a lack of self esteem, crushing mood swings, and the integration of two or more internal voices.
When our North Node is in Cancer we are meant to learn about the importance of nurturing, food, home, comfort, family, and the Inner Child, yet we are challenged to learn how to feel our feelings, not be ruled by our emotions alone, and find our strength in these experiences.
When our North Node is in Leo we are meant to focus on the creative expression of our lives, our social relationships, family, leadership and the right use of courage and will. Yet we are often challenged to let go of ego and manipulations, or having to constantly grap the spotlight.
When our North Node is in Libra we are meant to focus on fairness, awakening to our artistic gifts, and learning wisdom from the give and take of relationships. Yet we are challenged to make decisions, overcome confusion, give into co-dependence, drugs, alcohol or feeling like a failure because we have not learned to claim our power.
When our North Node is in Scorpio we are meant to focus on learning the right use of power that does not hurt anyone, making a connection with our inner selves, and learning to let go of trying to control other people and situations.
When our North Node is in Sagittarius we are meant to focus on truth, spirituality, learning, teaching, education, travel and broadening our conception of the cultural and spiritual traditions. We are challenged however, to fit into traditional religions, and to find a way to ground our increasing wisdom in a practical way in the world.
When our North Node is in Capricorn, we are meant to focus on how we can practically ground our connection with Spirit in the physical world. What goals can we set and then share with others. And we are challenged to realize that it is not our personal egos or success that is on the line, but rather how we can use our success to be of service to others.
When our North Node is in Aquarius we are meant to focus on developing our altruistic natures, working with groups, bringing in the wisdom of new ideas, and serving humanity. Yet we are challenged not to live in our heads, but rather remember to integrate the heart. We are also asked to learn that we do not have all the answers, but that our contribution is only a part of the whole picture.
When our North Node is in Pisces our mission is to connect with our spirituality first, often through our dreams, visions and emotions. In doing so we learn to focus on Oneness, inclusion, and the Divine. Yet we are often challenged to remember ourselves, to set healthy boundaries, and not to feel resentful when we overextend ourselves to others. We must remember to nurture ourselves, at the same time we are there to serve other people.
As we can see, Astrology is one of many ways that we can get a glimpse into our own natures, and the lessons that we have chosen to learn in this lifetime. It is a powerful way of pulling back the Veils between this world and the spiritual realms so that we can get a peek at what we and our Spirit Guides had decided was the direction that we wanted to take in this lifetime. Once we begin to understand this, then we can have a better understanding of the Arc that our life is meant to take.
ASTROLOGY VERSUS FREE WILL
Of course, this insight is only part of the overall equation of our lives since the energies inherent in every person’s NATAL CHART must be acted on by our own FREE WILL in order to empower us. In other words, you may have the natural talent to play the piano, be a tennis champion, write a book, or be a master surgeon, but only you can decide how (and if) you will create the dedication to follow this path and fulfill your own potential.
For many people there seem to be obstacles in the way of our becoming “All that we can be,” as the Army’s slogan promises, and many times these challenges like in the traumas and events of our early upbringing.
It is said that each child begins life with as many as 300 billion neural connections, but the factors of both time and experience teaches us (consciously or subconsciously) to prune away many of these amazing potential connections based on the environment we are raised in, and the validation (or lack of validation) that we received in the earliest years of our lives.
Were we picked up when we cried? Were we encouraged to explore our environments? Were we surrounded by conflict and stress, or harmony and support? Did we feel loved, nurtured or listened to, or were our physical, emotional, or mental needs ignored by our caretakers? Brain tests done with children in orphanages who were not loved, held or allowed to explore their early worlds, actually show a decrease in human intelligence dropping from an average IQ of 100 to 110 points to scores as low as 60. All of this reveals that what we do with our children during the first ten or twelve years of their lives in these early developmental stages is absolutely paramount to the mental and emotional development of each of us in the areas of language, socialization, logical thinking, artistic expression, and emotional and mental intelligence.
In short, as children we are all like sponges soaking up what we take in around us. And the early experiences that we had or have had created a network of positive or negative hard-wiring in our brains that often unconsciously informs the decisions and choices that we make during our lifetimes. However, some of this can be changed, healed, and reawakened through the process of Whole Brain Thinking and Activation.
HARD WIRING OUR BRAINS AND CHANGING OUR PATH
While an enormous amount of the brain’s “hard-wiring” is already complete in the first seven years of a person’s life, another entirely new stage of neural connections kicks in at puberty. Thus as we move into our teenage years, what we experience in school, in clubs, and at home, will often form our beliefs about our own self identity for decades. This can impact our socialization skills, our emotional intelligence, or performance at work, and our own self-concept, leading to lower or higher levels of self-esteem.
Are we the wallflower or the cheer leader? The geek or the jock? Is our self worth linked to being the funny one, the smart kid, the pretty girl, the musician, the computer expert or the filmmaker? Do we believe we are the bully, the victim or the rescuer in life? Are we too skinny or too fat? Are we attractive to the opposite sex, or too shy to risk a relationship? These tender years of social interaction are critical to the early formation of our self-esteem, and this is one of the reasons why bullying in school has created the highest suicide rate we have ever seen among our teens. Because the vulnerability of this stage of life, healthy, inclusive social interactions are critical to a healthy self concept.
Perhaps surprisingly, our brains do not really complete this neural net until we are about 25 years old, and this is one of the many reasons that the age when we are considered an adult was once 21, while now it is 18. While these changes in the brain will continue to happen throughout the rest of our life as we move in and out of experiences, a great deal of who we are biologically at least, is established in these early years, igniting us or discouraging us from fulfilling our deeper Purpose.
THE KARMIC DHARMIC ARC OF OUR MISSION
When we examine the clues from our NATAL CHARTS, we can see various patterns of who we are to become in the energetic alignments of the various planetary bodies. I think of this as the KARMIC-DHARMIC ARC.
Both the terms KARMA and DHARMA are Sanskrit words. I am using the word KARMA here to denote the challenges that the Soul experienced as a child, teenager or young adult. So the KARMA is the set up of the life’s difficulties.
The DHARMA refers to our Life’s Work or Mission. It is the deeper reason that we came to Earth to serve in some capacity, and it can take a thousand different forms, depending on the arc of a person’s life. Thus the KARMIC-DHARMIC ARC is the journey that we all make from the circumstances of our early years to the outer work we are meant to do, but to make that journey we must often face our deepest fears, and overcome the pain we experienced as a child. While some people are tempted to run from the past or to try to bury the events of their early life, in truth these are the issues we chose to challenge us, and hidden within these difficulties are the insights that we may have that give us the tools to solve our problems as adults.
EXAMPLES OF HOW THIS KARMIC-DHARMIC ARC MIGHT WORK:
Imagine the story of a young girl who grows up watching her mother slowly die of cancer. In the process she becomes a committed caretaker, prompting her to follow the path of the healer. She may decide to become a doctor, a nurse, a surgeon or a naturopath. She may decide to become a biochemist who seeks a cure for cancer, or a botanist traipsing through the jungles of the Rain Forest to discover a medicinal plant that can eradicate cancer forever. These are only some of the ways in which the difficulties of her past, can propel her into the journey of her true Purpose.
Let’s take the example of the young boy who loses his father in battle at the age of 8, 11, or 13. Depending on how close he was with his father, the respect he had for him, and the environment left behind, this young man may decide to join the military himself, following in his father’s footsteps to protect his country from danger. On the other hand, he may become a Conscientious Objector, seeing the stupidity of continued violence and war. Or he may instead realize the importance of boys having a strong father figure, and become a Big Brother to other young men, shaping the lives of countless children through Boy Scouts, youth organizations, or as a coach for the Little Leagues.
One child might observe the affects of bullying in the school, and decide to become the editor of the local school paper, giving voice to the fight against injustice. They may go on to become a reporter, a Statesman, a Lobbyists or a filmmaker, championed the rights of the oppressed.
Another child might experience the dangers of anorexic or bulimic eating disorder, and become a nutritionist, herbalist, guidance counselor, life coach, or child psychologist.
The events of our past did not happen to us by accident. Whether we can remember it or not, these events and our environment were carefully chosen by our Souls and our Guides to bring our attention to a problem on this planet, and to challenge us to rise to the occasion. They are integral to our Life’s Purpose, if only we have the eyes to see it.
How we respond to these events lies in the domain of our own FREE WILL.
So use yours wisely!
TO FIND OUR MORE ABOUT YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE AS LAID OUT IN YOUR NATAL CHART
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