Finding your ‘dharma’ with astrology

Hang about spiritual circles for any length of time you’ll come across the topic of ‘dharma’. On social media the term often gets mangled, combining spiritual purpose and authenticity in a pretty shallow way. Dharma is actually a complicated concept from Hinduism, incorporating elements of your religion, virtue and duty. There’s a sense that if you can live well (morals/actions/intentions in place), within the cosmic order, you’ll be happy. 

There’s a highly personalised quality to dharma - your path may not be quite like anyone else’s, which is the bit that gets translated poorly by Westerners, who end up espousing a convoluted mashup  of ‘dharma’, ‘authenticity’ and ‘abundance’ that results in a selfish approach that ignores the broader aspect of living - the need to understand your personal truth, within the context of your life, family, circumstances and society. 

There is a devotional element to dharma - living your truth in a daily way that speaks to your soul. There’s also a duty component, which acknowledges where you find yourself right now. What are your commitments? How are these actually essential to your purpose and joy? If you pare it right back, dharma can be viewed as a clarity around how each person should live. And this is where astrology fits quite nicely. 

Looking at a birth chart, we can locate a few points that give clues to how people can find more purpose and contentment. There a four things that immediately spring to mind…

1. Your Moon. 
The point of the chart that indicates emotions, your ‘soul’ self, your instinctive responses, and how you seek safety. By sign, house and aspect, we can break this point down to better understand what you need to belong and feel taken care of, as well as how well you can take care of others.

2. The Moon’s Nodes.
This mathematical axis is where the Moon’s orbit intersects the Sun’s path (ecliptic). Sitting 180 degrees apart, there’s a ‘North’ and ‘South’ Node. There are endless arguments within astrological circles about how they should be interpreted, but I definitely adhere to the sense that the two nodes indicate areas of life that offer ease and challenge, and when combined they provide a guide to how we can find more purpose and satisfaction. Balancing the axis seems critical to me, rather than choosing one end over the other.

3. The Midheaven.
The apex of the chart, the Midheaven is another mathematical point that shows what degree was overhead at the minute of your birth. Long delineated in Western Astrology as a career indicator, it can incorporate a broader range of goals and pathways pushing you forwards. Is your life ‘careering’ out of control? Perhaps you’re not living aligned to the sign and ruling planet of your Midheaven. 

4. Jupiter.
This planet indicates our personal ethics and religiosity. Living within its parameters covers some of the big topics around why certain actions do and don’t feel right for you. 

Analysing and combining the needs of these four points in your chart can provide an interesting exploration into personal purpose and satisfaction that edges us slightly closer to understanding the complicated depth of our ‘dharma’. 

Book a session, to come and explore the details of your birth chart.