the whole concept was too forced, too much trying to be artful. not enough about the fabric. i don’t want to be influenced by showmanship. i don’t want to be tricky or mysterious. i want to make cloth. i want to make things useful and touchable and real. i want to be true to the storyline and let it make sense for me… to help me undo the confusion that has built up in me over the last few years about what i am doing.

Jude Hill, from ‘undoing pretense’ at Spirit Cloth http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/

If we replace the words ‘fabric’ and ‘make cloth’ with ‘Soul’s intent’ and ‘live,’ then we have a graceful description of the individual effort to actualize the life, to make spirit conscious and allow it to direct our choices and actions, and all of it done seamlessly, so to speak. The final phrase speaks of the desire to move out of confusion, a state which is the antithesis of connecting the actions to spirit, and the earliest words talk of the initial attempts to create that are artificial, trying too much for an effect that reflects standards that are not one’s own; both are the experience of every Soul who looks too much outside the Self for praise, feedback, encouragement, motivation.

Where do we find the spirit in the chart? Everywhere, of course, with each aspect and placement representing the Beingness as seen from a particular angle, through a particular lens. Is any planet or planetary placement more divinely connected than another? No, though there are those who tend to see placements as more or less spiritually inclined, more or less material or physical–but if God is in all things, seen and unseen, then material needs are intertwined with spiritual ones, and we see no difference, when we look from the viewpoint of the Soul.

We can get a glimpse of the Soul’s intent through every planet and point, but there are a few that traditionally give their message more directly: the Sun, Neptune, Chiron, the Midheaven. The Sun embodies the Soul’s Purpose in incarnating, it’s sign a description of the affinity it holds most prominently in this lifetime. When we study the Sun, we must be aware that all the signs have a presence in each chart, and thus that the entire spectrum of energies and attitudes is available to each of us; it’s a mistake to say, “That’s not in him,” or “She would never,” for there is always the chance of a situation that calls the forbidden, exiled, or ignored energy forward.

Neptune represents our connection to the cosmic, and its placement and aspects describe our place within the Collective, as does the Midheaven; what we make of this concerning the spirit, though, may never really show on the outside–and it’s important to remember that those who wear their Neptune on the outside aren’t necessarily more spiritual than those who hold it on the inside. Among the circumstances of Neptune, the Midheaven, and the Sun, we can often sort out the spiritual life storyline, akin to what’s sought in the quote above, always keeping in mind that anything we see can exist on the inside (within the spirit), on the outside (in the role or function), or both.

And what of Chiron? This is at once a direct pipeline to the tenderest, most vulnerable spot in the individual, and the most absolutely unique skill and talents of the individual, and the uniqueness of the manifestation of each is such that this placement is almost impossible to define completely from outside the life; only a perspective from within the individual’s consciousness can hope to define Chiron’s role and parse it out from within the camouflage provided by other energies. Chiron among all the energies is the only one that can be best defined in detail by the person who owns it.

We work to fuse the parts of the horoscope, seamlessly, integrating them into a picture that is complete and successfully explains all that is within; are we able to? Probably not; we are too complex to have our essence picked apart, labeled, and reassembled in some semblance of completeness. But as long as we have the desire to be as true to ourselves as we are in our most natural state, true to the inclinations of the spirit, and with a recognition that the material that surrounds us may be equally of the spirit, then we have a chance to create something unique to ourselves, a life that will not be forced according to fashion or pretense, and will not fall to confusion, but will be seeded with the spirit truest to who and what we are.

Jude Cowell provides outstanding New Moon coverage here http://judecowell.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/new-moon-6pis35-feb-24-2009/

Visit Dog and Sunflower Press, read an excerpt from the upcoming JUNO IN THE NATAL CHART, and buy INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP or CHIRON IN THE NATAL CHART using our new PayPal buttons! http://dogandsunflower.wordpress.com Thanks!

And a special Thank You to Lainie for introducing me to Spirit Cloth; visit her at Red Thread Studio, link at right.