Spiritual Understanding

     At some point in our life we have all probably asked the questions:

"Why all this fuss about spiritual growth? Why do we have to be born and go through all this stuff?" Or at another level, "why did the whole universe begin at all?" 

Buddha's answer to this question was: "That's none of your business". 

Which means in other words, that you can’t answer that question from the same level of awareness from which you, the Ego, is asking it? Many of us are still working on getting the corners together! But ultimately, we must all walk the path on our own; discover our inner truth through our own experiences and knowledge. Reading cookbooks doesn't make you a chef, you have to practice cooking!

  So here we are. And if any simple answer could be given to the eternal question "why?", you might say that as living, conscious beings we are infused with one of the most fundamental principles of all life and energy - to grow, expand and evolve.

      The true potential that each of us is traveling towards is to become who we really, essentially are. The planets and signs in the birth chart can be a valuable tool in gaining more awareness and understanding of the particular nature of the individual spiritual work we are each doing within this lifetime. Our souls choose a particular birth or incarnation that contains the qualities which are optimum for what we need to experience and learn about.

      Using astrology as part of your spiritual path can be considered to have two main applications. The first of course understands your birth chart; what it reveals about your soul's nature and the particular challenges and strengths that create the unique pattern of your life's unfolding and destiny.

 The second method is to work with cycles, which include both transits and progressions. By studying the connections between cycles and events and changes within our daily lives, we place our birth chart in the "here and now". Cycles are sort of a moving meditation; they focus our self-awareness within the flow of time. Cycle activity involving birth planets or houses show us where the "hot spots" are for a given period; where there is the most dynamic quality and potential for learning and growth.

       Cycles teach us that we are not merely a fixed set of personality traits or an Ego bound to deterministic patterns and limitations. The waves of cycles that move through our chart remind us that we are essentially a flow, a process of constant change and unfolding of consciousness.