In this blog series, I’d like to share with you how we see birth chart planet meanings in Shamanic Astrology. This view differs slightly from the standard western astrological understanding, but honestly, this view of birth chart planets makes a lot more sense to me. Let’s dive in and take each planet, or celestial body, one by one.

In this first part of the series, we are going to focus on the Sun, Moon and Rising sign, and what they mean in the birth chart.

Birth Chart Planet Meanings: Sun Sign

One of my biggest pet peeves about pop astrology is people walking around thinking they are their sun sign. You are not your sun sign. Your sun sign does not reveal to you the nature of your personality (unless it shares the same sign as your other natal inner planets).

I repeat: You are NOT your sun sign.

So, what is the birth chart planet meaning of the sun?

In Shamanic Astrology, we see the sun sign as representing “the fuel you burn to reach your life purpose.” This is the fuel that drives a person in all areas of their life. The fuel is the energy. Just as the gas you burn is not the vehicle, nor the person inside it, so the Sun is part of a larger picture of your personality and intended soul expression in this lifetime.

The qualities of your sun sign might be an intrinsic part of who you are, in a general way, but, the sun sign does not reveal the nature of one’s personality or suggest that is the archetype you are most here to embody.

For example, the Sun sign Aries burns a fuel that is fiery, aggressive, courageous, and independent. It is a quality of self-expression but not who one is here to be.

The Sun sign Scorpio, alternatively, burns a watery, intense, edgy, commanding energy.

Birth Chart Planet Meanings: Moon Sign

In your natal chart, your moon sign meaning is related to your lineage—this can be your actual family lineage, your personal soul history, your actual genetic code, and/or your past life themes.

While the sun stays in a sign for a whole month (ahem, much more general, and certainly not revealing of the nature of the millions of people all born within the same month), the moon sign changes every 2.5 days, making it much more particular to the day and time you were born.

In Ancient Rome, when someone asked for your astrology sign, they were asking for your moon sign not your sun sign. They knew that your moon sign is much more revealing of your personality than your sun sign.

I see the moon sign as representing the foundation you were born with, archetypally speaking. It is the pattern of energy that serves as a default “comfort zone” and comes more naturally to you in this lifetime (so long as your moon sign expression hasn’t been negated or invalidated).

In Shamanic Astrology, we see the natal moon as indicating the attitudes, expectations, habits, and perspectives we hold. It’s like a comfort zone, and a place of some of your greatest superpowers.

To read all about your Moon sign superpowers, get your free copy of my eBook here.

Whether literally, mythically, or functionally, it’s as if you came in with a PhD in your moon sign. We call this your moon mystery school.

Everyone has a different relationship to their moon sign energy, depending on:

· the sign (and how validated it is in our culture),

· outer planet dynamics with the moon in the natal chart,

· one’s lived experiences (if this energy was/is accepted and validated by family and social circles),

· and how one has been received when they express this energy in their lives.

Sometimes, we can get addicted to our moon sign energy. And other times, we might not have access to our moon sign energy at all, because it has been invalidated. In the former case, we may be asked to do the work of breaking our moon sign addiction. In the latter case, we may have to undergo a soul retrieval to regain access to that part of our psyches.

Say someone has their natal moon in Libra and they are relationship-focused, which is a quality of this moon sign. If they “overdo” or overfocus on their moon energy, e.g. relationships or peacekeeping at their own expense, they may find themselves unfulfilled or without “reward,” no matter how excellent their relational efforts. They may have to break their addiction to old relationship patterns such as co-dependency or the need to always be in relationship. Libra moons do better to use their relational skills to further the projects of their other inner natal planets.

Birth Chart Planet Meanings: The Ascendant

While the ascendant is an angle and not an actual planet in the birth chart, it plays a very important role in how we look at your life path astrologically.

The Ascendant sign, or the Rising Sign, is the first zodiac sign that was emerging on the Eastern horizon (which shows up on the left side of the birth chart as we look at it on paper) at the time of your birth. The Rising sign, or Ascendant, is much more specific to your birth time, as the Rising changes every two hours.

In Shamanic Astrology, the birth chart meaning of the Ascendant is the life path and personal identity project someone is signing up for in this lifetime. They aren’t necessarily “good” at embodying this sign yet, but they come into deeply study its mysteries and full range of possible experiences.

Each Rising sign has a different intention. They set out to explore and walk with a series of questions.

For example, Ascendant in Leo asks the question: “How might I embody radical self-love? What does it mean to love myself as a unique spark of the Divine?”

Ascendant in Cancer may ask: “What is the nature of family, roots, and nurturance at this time and in my life?”

Ascendant in Pisces may ask: “What does it mean to be a mystic or a healer at this time? What are the new dreams wanting to emerge within humanity and inside my own being? How do we bring healing empathy and compassion to all living beings?”

In Shamanic Astrology, all Ascendant birth chart signs are considered equally valid and important paths. We may say they reveal something about your “place on the wheel.”

Want to dive deeper into the meaning of your birth chart planets?

Get clarity and insight into your birth chart planet meanings through a Soul Map Astrology reading. These 90-minute readings will bring this information alive and make it specific to you. Often, these astrological insights profoundly transform how we see and understand ourselves and deeply validate who we are.

Sign up for a Soul Map Astrology Session here.

Curious to know about the birth chart planet meanings of Mercury, Venus and Mars? Read all about them COMING SOON in part 2.

Want to know about the birth chart planet meanings of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto? Read about those COMING SOON in part 3.

Eager to dive even deeper and get insight into the meaning of the asteroids in your birth chart, including Chiron, Juno, Vesta, Ceres, and Pallas Athene? COMING SOON in part 4

Birth Chart Planet Meanings: Part 1