The Astrological Birth Chart

Astrologers (myself included) are all too often found guilty of flattening out the vibrant, living symbols contained in astrology... thinking that the many numinous symbols can be safely channeled into nice, neat, and practical rational concepts... that then provide simplistic 1-2-3 definitions, rules, and answers that we can all "wrap our minds around."

So... in a brief moment of respite from that sort of delusional Western World left-brained thinking (and respite from using the all too foreign language of "astrologer-speak"), in exploring the archetypal nature and experience of the astrological birth chart, let's back up and take in a good old fashioned dose of awe and imagination, courtesy of my spiritual mentor, Dr Carl G Jung...

Mt Elgon, Kenya - The Glorious Sunrise
Excerpts from: Memories, Dreams, and Reflections; Carl Jung about his being on Mt Elgon when visiting with the Elgonyi tribe of Kenya, Africa in 1925

"the sunrise in these latitudes was a phenomenon that overwhelmed me anew every day… I formed the habit of taking a camp stool and sitting under an umbrella acacia just before dawn…

At first, the contrast between light and darkness would be extremely sharp. Then objects would assume contour and emerge into the light which seemed to fill the valley with a compact brightness. The horizon above became radiant white. Gradually the swelling light seemed to penetrate into the very structure of objects, which became illuminated from within until at last they shone translucently, like bits of colored glass. Everything turned to flaming crystal. The cry of the bell bird rang around the horizon. At such moments I felt as if I were inside a temple."

My being an all too typical modern urban city dweller over the past 3 decades so, it's been all too easy to lose sight of the sheer wonder and awe of an early morning sunrise during my childhood in rural New Mexico. It's likewise incredibly easy to forget just why the sunrise was considered such a sacred moment and experience for ancient peoples...

Jung continuing on: "It was the most sacred hour of the day. I drank in this glory with insatiable delight or rather in a timeless ecstasy…

For untold ages men have worshipped the great god who redeems the world by rising out of the darkness as a radiant light in the heavens…

That is why the sun’s birth in the morning strikes the [Kenyan] native as so overwhelmingly meaningful. The moment in which light comes is God. That moment brings redemption, release. To say that the sun is God is to blur and forget the archetypal experience of the moment…"

Dawn Finally Breaks
Wow! Did you catch that? Had it ever "dawned" on you that few ancient peoples ever worshipped the sun as being god, per se? For many ancient cultures - while the sun itself was considered divine - it was primarily the moment of the sun rising in the East each day (releasing us from the darkness of the night) that was set apart as being most sacred.

“Near my observation point was a high cliff inhabited by baboons. Every morning they sat quietly, almost motionless, on the ridge of the cliff facing the sun, whereas throughout the rest of the day they ranged noisily through the forest, screeching and chattering. Like me, they seem to be waiting for the sunrise. They remind me of the great baboons of the temple of Abu Simbel of Egypt, which perform the gesture of adoration. They tell the same story: for untold ages men have worshipped the great god who redeems the world by rising out of the darkness as a radiant light in the heavens.”

Jung was referring here to the ancient Egyptian temple, Abu Simbel, that was dedicated (circa 13th century BC) to Ramesses II, and a row of carved baboons atop the temple that symbolically greeted the morning sun each day.

The Astrological Birth Chart
Your birth chart is a sacred symbol of the exact dawning of your life on planet Earth; and, in particular, the Zodiac sign in which your Ascendant (see link below) is placed, uniquely represents the part of the Sky that came to meet and greet you at the exact sacred moment of your dawning.

In ancient Greek astrology, the "horoskopos" or the "birth chart" literally meant "look to the hour [of birth]." So the Ascendant, along with the rest of our birth chart, is a sacred and life giving symbol of the unique moment in time and space when we were born.

Our birth charts are special "sky maps" that reflect (mirror back) the quality of the exact moment when we emerged from the darkness of the womb and then drew our first breath. And with that first breath, we each began our own incredible and unique hero's journey through life on planet Earth... and - don't go into shock -

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote that we each choose both the time and place of our birth - and that we therefore choose the lessons we will be undergoing...

And according to the even more ancient Greek thinker Heraclitus (one of Plato's major influences):

"The soul is its own source of unfolding."

Astrology's map of the soul is nothing more and nothing less than a mirror that can symbolically reflect the natural unfolding of our soul and character over the course of a lifetime. And it takes an entire lifetime to fully live out and bring meaning to all the symbols and potentials contained in our birth charts.

Home > Basics > Birth Chart

Find out more about the Ascendant in the article "Hey Baby, What's Your Sign."