Astrology as Dharma "We are men, and our lot is to learn and to be hurled into inconceivable new worlds." don Juan from A Separate Reality, Carlos Castaneda "In so far as every individual has their own inborn law of life, it is theoretically possible for every person to follow this law and so to become a personality - that is, to achieve completeness." Carl Jung        All of us are on this Cosmic Journey together, some of us at different levels and some of us with more consciousness of the journey than others. But at the deepest level, we are all connected in this bigger dance of evolution, the process of consciousness coming to know itself within the individual Self.        Now at some point we have all probably asked the question, "So 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 that question was to basically say, "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. It's like a meta-jigsaw puzzle, and you can't really tell what the whole picture is until you get all the pieces in place. Very few of us have all the pieces. Many of us are still working on getting the corners together! Enlightened beings such as Yogananda or Ramakrishna have given us hints and glimpses of what the whole picture looks like. 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. We are learning machines from the first day we're born, and the process never stops. We can't help but want to learn more about ourselves and the world. And at the upper end of that spectrum is total awareness of the Self as One with the world, what the Buddhists call Satori or the Buddha nature. Carl Jung expressed this journey as the process of Individuation. Or as Joseph Campbell describes it in mythological terms, the Hero's Journey.        The true potential that each of us is traveling towards is to become who we really, essentially are. The planets and signs in the birthchart 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.        The birthchart shows us both the karma we are working with and also our destinies. Karma I would define as the package that we came in with, including our families, our bodies and health patterns, the challenges and obstacles we must overcome, as well as possible issues and experiences we bring from past lives. Destiny, which has perhaps a more positive association, I would define as our open-ended potential; the talents, abilities and growth experiences that enrich us and empower us with the feeling that we are living authentically and expressing our true purpose in life.        Karma, of course would be connected with issues that feel like Fate, things that happen to us that we seem to have no choice in. Destiny on the other hand, is only realized by utilizing our Free Will. By consciously choosing to grow, to learn and evolve, we open ourselves to our Destiny and thus realize our greater potential and purpose. The only question then is, "do we want to be a passenger, or do we want to drive? Do we want to travel in the fast lane, or take a slower path?"        With this in mind, here are some key points in the birthchart that are worth exploring in depth and that have particular connections with spiritual work and personal growth. Although they can be focused on individually, they must also be understood against the backdrop of the entire horoscope to keep the entire life path in perspective. Jupiter - long associated with religion and issues of faith and spiritual beliefs, this planet is a good place to start with understanding our individual journeys. Its sign and house placement can reveal certain talents and abilities that we are naturally born to do. Also, Jupiter might be thought of as the "Easy Path", symbolizing certain types of spiritual practice that are natural and help guide and enrich us. In Earth signs - hatha yoga, karma yoga or service, health and healing work. In Fire signs - kundalini yoga, breath exercises, meditation, psychic development. In Air signs - dharma yoga or study, Zen or Vipassana meditation, writing. In Water signs - Bhakti yoga or devotional practices, chanting, visualization. Saturn - Saturn might be thought of as our "Hard Path", or the teacher that demands the best of us, challenges us and forces us to confront our egos and our fears. Saturn's lessons often take the longest to learn, but are sometimes the most valuable in the end. The sign and house location of Saturn can tell us where our attachments are, and how we distort certain aspects of what we believe to be "reality" that hinders our growth and greater awareness. Saturn shows us what we must personally "master" in ourselves in order to travel further on our individual paths. In Earth signs - issues of self-esteem, money, health issues and career. Discipline. In Fire signs - issues involving risk-taking, creativity, personal power and self-expression. Individuality. In Air signs - issues involving intellectual growth, schooling, communication and perception. Wisdom. In Water signs - relationships, expressing feelings, family issues and emotional needs. Compassion. Retrograde planets - Retrograde motion might be thought of as an "astronomical illusion" created by the Earth's position relative to other planets orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, these planets will appear to be going backwards in the zodiac, due to change in their orbital speed. All planets regularly go retrograde, except for the Sun and Moon. On the average, most people are born with at least one planet retrograde.        From a spiritual perspective, retrograde planets can indicate karmic issues associated with those planets; memories and experiences our soul has carried with it into this lifetime. These can cause problems for us as they point to old patterns of belief or behavior that "don't fit" with our needs for growth in our present lives. In other words, retrograde planets can reveal where we are "stuck" about certain issues that seem to never be resolved.        However, it would be a mistake to think of retrogrades as only negative in nature. On the contrary, they can also often show us where we are doing our deepest soul work, and point to special past life abilities and knowledge that we can draw on as resources in our spiritual work. In your birthchart, a planet is retrograde when you see an "R" symbol next to its zodiac degree position. The Moon's Nodes - The Nodes, both North and South are also very powerful symbols that can reveal much about our individual spiritual paths.   North Node - its sign indicates certain qualities that are fairly "new" to us soul-wise, and that we gradually work on over our lifetimes. For instance, in Cancer, this may tell us that we need to work on nurturing ourselves and others, or to develop closer bonds with others, especially families and children. The North Node in Taurus would indicate money or self-esteem lessons, and so on. The sign of this Node often will also be the Sun Sign of significant people who cross our paths as teachers, whether they realize it or not. These can be relationships, mentors, family members or friends. The house position of the North Node is also important, as it shows us in which area of life many of our karmic lessons are taking place. Again, this is usually an area that feels "new" or difficult to our soul's experience. A 10th House Node would indicate career lessons, while a 7th House Node points to relationships as a major learning ground.   South Node - its sign and house reveals much about our past life experiences, and many times where our souls have perhaps focused too much energy and thus become out of balance. The sign of the South Node will often be the Sun Sign of people we immediately feel a past life connection with, especially in relationships. While these relationships can often be very powerful, they also may indicate some sort of karmic balancing that we must do with that person.          It is my wish for all of you that your spiritual paths be full of joy, peace, adventure and wonder!   Namaste, Michael Thurman, MA      for change and growth over the next six years.