Whether or not someone believes in astrology or not, I find it interesting that most will seem to know what their Sun Sign is. In the West, there is a heavy emphasis on the Sun sign, and many consider it the “primary” or most important one. Considering the cultural structures and influences in western culture, it kind of make sense why this one has taken center stage.
Why the Sun Sign
The Sun sign is calculated by the positioning of the Sun at our birth – the constellation that it resides in. In the west, there is a high focus on the Sun that I feel stems from the deep conditioning of christianity. Although Sun worship has a long history through human existence, the division between light and dark that has occurred as a result of the christian religions seems different to me. They took it to a place of denoting good and evil, creating a deep division between the two sides. Where the Sun is to be worshiped and embraced, where as the Moon – the darkness – is something that needs to be controlled, dominated.
The Sun sign also speaks loudly as to our cultural perceptions of the outer self being the center stage. Being judged by how we look, how we dress, and the material possessions we acquire. It determines how we fit into the societal structures they have created.
For me, the Sun sign is a reflection of our outer self. How we move in this world. How we interact with others. What we tend to value in the physical world, and those things that irritate us. It is only one part of the whole though.
The Moon Sign
The next most common sign people will know is their Moon sign. For those who follow more alternative spiritual paths (Witches, Pagans, New Agers) knowing your moon sign is a lot more common. In the wider population, in my experience, this tends to not be the case.
The Moon is the inner reflection. Focused on the inner self – How we process, think, and feel the world we are moving in. It is focused on the Self instead of the outer collective.
It is considered the “dark side” because it is not what other people tend to see or focus on. It is the energy that lays within us. I have even heard some say it is the part of us we need to master, dominate, and control it – I disagree. I think it is a part of us that we should be embracing, understanding, and blending with the outer self.
Your Moon Sign can give clues as to why certain things affect you emotionally and deeper then others. Why you have the reactions you do to outside events. Why you carry the specific traumas that you do. Because the Moon deals in the unseen, the emotions, the inner monologue, the inner processes of the self – used in conjunction with the Sun sign – it can be a very useful tool in understanding the “why’s.”
By embracing the nature of your Sun and Moon signs together, balancing the negative and positives of each – knowing them, understanding them – can also give you a deeper understanding of yourself. Energies that you already possess and you can learn to use for your highest benefit.
The Least Known or Discussed – The Rising Sign
The Rising sign tends to be the least known, because it requires you to know the time of your birth. It is the one sign that changes every couple of hours throughout the day and night. It is the constellation that is at the horizon when you come into this life.
I see the Rising sign as the whole self. In my experience – when you have learned to balance the inner and outer self, working with both sides cohesively – that is when you truly enter into the Rising sign. It is a representation of that blending of the sun and moon, inner and outer.
I have found some unique perspectives and depth of self within it. There is also a lot of symbolism there as to the path I walk in both my physical and spiritual life. My Rising is Scorpio – the end and a beginning. It sits at the beginning of the Milky Way and crosses through it.
For me, the Milky Way is a representation of the Well. The place of Death and Rebirth. The end of a cycle and the beginning of the next. It denotes the passing of time. The Sun enters its center at the time of Winter Solstice, moving through a cycle of time, marking the end of one year and the beginning of another in the physical plane.
Even though you may never know what your particular rising sign is, doesn’t mean you can not harness the power of it. Like I said, it is representation of the blending and balancing between the sun and moon, outer and inner self.
Complexities
There are two complex issues I have personally run into when diving deep into astrology.
The First, is differing opinions. There are so many different astrology pages out there, and they all have their own takes on each sign. Different words and attributes associated with the constellations. I took the approach of finding the core energies. The places where they all overlap and the core energies they tend to share between them. By finding those core energies, we can effectively understand and tap that energy within ourselves.
It can be a lot of work. It takes time and discernment. What you discover through the process though is a deeper understanding, not just of the energy itself, but also how it applies to you personally. How it plays out within you, your personality, your actions, the way you process and move in this life.
The Second is one I see a lot more resistance to – Finding your true signs.
Not all the calculations are correct, and are based on a set of calculations and not true positing in the sky. Western astrology is the worst because it is fixed and never takes into account for any movement of the stars. Vedic is a lot more reliable because it is based on calculations that do take into account the movement.
The problem I have found through my experimenting and comparing a large group of different birth charts, even Vedic tends to be off, Generally it is just off by one sign though, but still, a change is sign changes everything. I think this also is reflective of people who do not “feel” like their sign is really representative of them. It may be close, but they just don’t feel or see it in themselves.
There were reasons why we needed calculations before, because people did not have access to the technology to view in real time. That is not the case anymore. If we are talking energy, for me that energy must be real.
Astrology is all based on planetary and constellation energies. These are real energies outside of ourselves, just as plants are energies outside of ourselves. If we consistently say that energy matters, that each thing holds very specific energy to it, and tapping and using the right energies is important – then this also has to apply to planetary energies. Close is just not good enough when we have the ability and tools to see in real time and know the true energies at play.
Energy Matters
The most common reason to the resistance seems to come more from laziness/ lack of convenience, than to the idea itself. Every app I have found, astrologers speaking across all the different media platforms, and so forth are all running off the old systems – Western or Vedic. It is easy to press a button and look at an app or to click a button and have someone else tell us what the stars are doing. But for some reason they are resistant to use another very simple tool that shows the actual positioning of the stars and planets in real time.
Stellarium is not hard to use. The time and date stamp at the bottom right allows you to go forward and backwards in time to see what the true positioning was at that time. You can use it on your phone or computer. It is compiled data from observatories around the world, giving you the most accurate and up to date information.
As everyone this past full moon were talking about about it being in Taurus – the moon according to Stellarium was actually in Aries. This is a consistent discrepancy. There are distinct differences between those energies, thus how we would work with them are different. Same with knowing your true sun and moon signs. There are distinct differences between a Capricorn and a Sagittarius, and using the energy of the wrong one, or trying to fit your energy and focus into the wrong box, will give minimal results at best, in my opinion.
If energy matters – if there is power in energy – than the vibration and make-up of that energy matters. The location that the sun, moon, and planets are in matters. If we say magic is based in energy – no matter if it is thought or from something outside of ourselves ( plants, elements, etc) – then the vibration and attributes of that energy matter.
Some will argue – If the collective believes it, believes it is that energy, then it is. I do not believe this. There is much the collective can change, but to change the meaning of an energy that belongs to something else, I do not. We would not be so bold to say we could take the energy/ vibration of water and use it like fire – so why is this so different?
The Challenge
I put this challenge out to whoever reads this. Go to the Stellarium app – Go to the day of your birth – look at where the sun and moon are positioned.
Is it different from what others told you? Is it different from the other systems? If yes, then do some research and reflecting – Does this new information fit better?
For the next two months, at the new and full moon – pay attention to the sign you see everyone else talking about – and then look at the app to see the true sign the moon is in. Does that sign change? What does it change in the energy?
Work with the energy that Stellarium is saying instead of what others are saying – Does it improve your magic/ workings?
I get this requires clicking a few more buttons and being intentional instead of what happens to pop up in your feed – but if you think energy is real and matters, then I would think you would want to do this – at least try it and investigate it for yourself.
This isn’t the first time I have talked about this and probably not the last, because this matters to me. Working with the actual energy that is there, in the true position, matters to me – and we have a way to access that now. The other systems served us well when we did not have access – it gave us the foundations and structures to grow from – I am not dismissing them in any way – but we have evolved and grown, and like with all things, we should embrace that change and forward movement.
Ending Thoughts
I never vibed well with what I was told were my signs: Sun – Capricorn, Moon – Aquarius. More the Capricorn then anything. I had some strong inner traits such as the determination, work-a-holic, drive aspects, structure, etc. but not the materialism outward aspects.
When I did my own chart according to true sky calculations, it turns out my Sun was Sagittarius and my Moon was directly between Capricorn and Aquarius, and that actually fit with the experience of myself, of my sides.
That blending of those two core energies of Cap and Aquarius is very reflective of my inner self.
The core energies of Sagittarius is spot on for my outer self and how I move in this world.
My Rising – the fully blended and integrated self – the path I walk – being those core energies and representations of those is spot on.
Embracing and walking with those truths changed so much for me personally. Working with the planetary (including sun and moon) in their actual positions has made a huge difference in my magic and energetic works.
Even though it is a lonely road – because I am saying the moon is in Aries, all the other voices are saying it is in Taurus – it matters to me, it makes a difference to me, and I feel it makes a difference in what I am working with energetically. Energy is real, thus their positions matters, and this is the path I choose for myself.
It is a little more work, but once you have your own interpretations of those energies, the research that leads you to the core energies, then it isn’t much more work then clicking and listening to someone else’s video.
We will all have our own approaches – this is mine. I do hope you try the exercise though, even if just to see and consider the differences.
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