Mandala

know thyself

A great source of information about our soul path can be discovered through astrology. At the exact moment and location of our birth, the celestial bodies had a specific position and they are the foundation of our birth chart. Astrology is a spiritual tradition that links our inner experience to the universe around us that we are constantly co-creating. Simply put, it is like a complex clock that used the movement of the planets in a similar way to the movements of the hands of a normal clock. In the same way, we can predict a high probability of traffic jams in certain locations at certain times, astrology can reliably indicate probabilities in our lives at certain times and places.

The best-known type of astrology used today is the Zodiac astrology. It identifies twelve signs and each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses, specific traits, desires, and attitudes towards life and people. The projection of the position of planets, the sun, and the moon at our location at the time of birth are analyzed and can give insight into our basic character traits, emotions, and thoughts. Each of the twelve signs belongs to one of the four elements. These elements each represent an essential type of energy that influences us. Knowing our astrological signature can assist us in focusing these energies on the positive aspects and to gain a better understanding of our potential and our positive traits and to deal with negative ones. An insightful birth chart called a personal portrait can be generated online with the accurate date, time, and location of our birth.

Mayan astrology is another type of astrology that offers insight into our soul path. The Mayans created one of the most advanced ancient civilizations on the planet and they are best known for the Mayan ruins and the Mayan calendar. The calendar has three aspects, and one of them is a group of 260 days that forms the tzolkin. It is based on cyclical times in a metaphysical universe. It can be used to determine when certain events are likely to occur, for identifying personality types, and for deepening our spiritual journey in life. It identifies twenty signs and thirteen tones, and each of us has a specific combination of these. The material we find when researching our Mayan astrology chart can sound very complex and metaphysical, but when we persist we can uncover valuable wisdom about ourselves and our soul path. Mayan signs (along with a comprehensive interpretation) can be looked up online with our date of birth.

A teaching that combines Zodiac astrology with the Chinese I-Ching is called Human Design. A chart is generated, the bodygraph, that can assist us in understanding ourselves and in navigating our life path. The bodygraph is composed of chakras that are linked by gates and channels of energy that flow through our system. This map of flowing energies reveals profound information about our identity and our journey. The gates are like codes or archetypes that stem from the I-Ching tradition. Human Design de-mystifies how we are coded by the universe on our birthday. At the moment we are born, planetary positions imprint us with their information instantaneously. The resulting bodygraph determines characteristics about us, like what type of person we are, how we can best make decisions, how to access our bodily energy, and what our conscious and unconscious personality traits are. The bodygraph functions like a guide to being ourselves that describes us and instructs us at the same time. With Human Design, many people claim to encounter an extraordinary yet familiar picture of themselves that reveals their attitudes, behaviors, and tendencies with startling clarity.

We discover more about our essence in the Enneagram. It is a well-known personality typing system that consists of nine different types. Determining what our dominant type is and which has a secondary influence on our character can be done through Enneagram tests or with an Enneagram coach. Each type has to do with our driving motives and desires. Knowing our Enneagram can help us understand the world through the perspective of those around us. A simple but effective online test can reveal what could be our dominant and our wings (the secondary influence). This gives us a start, but when we read the description of the different types, we might discover another combination of types is the one that describes our essence better.

The methods above, mostly focus on factors and influences that were already imprinted during birth or in our developmental years. There is also a powerful method to decode messages about ourselves and our path along the way as our lives unfold. Synchronicities, accidents, and diseases transmit powerful personal messages, yet their content is not often fully heard and decoded. Christiane Beerlandt wrote extensive material that gives us a glimpse into the deep mysteries of the human psyche, giving insight into the field of self-realization, psychosomatics, and the symbolic meaning of happenings. Every disease or accident corresponds to a specific psychological-emotional disharmony or message and becoming conscious of this can be a great source of health and healing. The body and life-events speak a mysterious language of signals that can assist us in our evolution.