EP42 You Know Your Zodiac Sign - But Do You Know Your Birth Chart? (How I Used Astrology as a Life Cheat Code)
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[00:00:00] What if there was way more to your astrology than your zodiac sign or some generic daily horoscope?
What if you could actually use astrology to help understand yourself better?
your personality, your strengths, your struggles, like maybe even get somewhat of a clue of what your purpose might be in life
I'll be honest, like I didn't even explore astrology beyond my zodiac sign or those generic daily horoscopes because I didn't know there was any more to it. I didn't know what I didn't know
So today we're gonna talk about some really interesting things that you can learn about your own personal astrology
that you might not even know exists
So when I started on this whole personal growth, self-discovery journey, I think I've mentioned in the past, I was consuming content like crazy
And don't laugh at me. I honestly was searching for podcasts that were like, "How to live my dream life," or, "How to live the life of my dreams." Don't laugh at me. I genuinely didn't know what to [00:01:00] fricking search for. I just knew that I was feeling really unfulfilled
and I just felt called to bring more joy into my life, and I genuinely wanted to live my dream life, and I didn't know what to do or how to go about it
and not to mention, not only did I wanna live the life of my dreams or a life that I was, like, genuinely excited about, I started questioning my purpose in life. Like, what was I actually here for? So I was just looking for any kind of information that was out there that could help me make this dream life a reality
And through my blind podcast searches, I stumbled across a podcast by an astrologer who was actually heavy in the manifestation space
And there was honestly a ton of podcasts and coaches and all kinds of things out there that talked a lot about manifestation, but I wasn't there yet. I didn't know specifically what I wanted to manifest. And this particular podcast, because [00:02:00] it was an astrologer, she was weaving astrology into manifestation.
And I was just like, "Oh my gosh, what if the universe, the sky, the stars
might actually be playing a much bigger role in who we are and what we're here to do
I was like, "Is this why I catch myself always just staring up into the sky at night?" when I was living in Wisconsin, I swear I would go on my deck and I would just lay back in my reclining chair and stare up at the stars.
Even when I was walking the dog, I would just be walking the dog at night and I would just catch myself always staring up at the sky, like, looking for answers. what am I here for? Like, what is this all about? I felt so small, and I just, I knew there was more to it than just a beautiful sky
But the more I listen to her talk about astrology and the role that it plays in manifestation and living our dream life, the more fascinated I [00:03:00] became, and the more curious I got
You know the saying, the more I learn, the less I know? That's exactly how it felt. Like, the more I just kept consuming her content, the more I realized I didn't know half of what I thought astrology was. Not even a pinch
It honestly felt like I was being introduced to like a whole new language, like a language that would help me translate things about myself that I never even considered
And some of what I was discovering honestly was super eye-opening
Things about my personality, my career, my struggles
Even things that I thought were flaws, they all started making sense
And it got me wondering like, how much do we actually know about ourselves?
Because here I was in my 40s still figuring out what I wanna be when I grow up
And suddenly I have this completely [00:04:00] new perspective on who I am
Hi, I'm Jessica, and you are listening to the Starlit Success podcast
and today I wanna introduce you to a side of astrology that you may not have even known existed
And I wanna show you how you can start exploring your own birth chart
Before we go any further, I just wanna give you a quick disclaimer. I am not an astrologer. I do not claim to be an astrologer, and I certainly do not play one on Spotify or YouTube
I'm just someone who became completely obsessed with what I was learning on this journey, and this is one of those topics that really lit a fire under me, to be honest, and it was so fascinating, and I feel the need to share it with everyone.
And I think it could really help you on this journey of self-discovery, especially if you're someone like me who didn't know what you wanted, you just knew you wanted something more. I think it's a great tool to help explore yourself a little bit further
I'm so grateful that I discovered that there was a lot more to astrology than what I [00:05:00] thought
Because it's given me such a more expansive view of like who I am and how I'm wired
And one of the things that I've learned on this whole journey is that the better you understand yourself, the easier it is to create a life that you actually love and a life that you actually want
so the episode that actually got me hooked was this episode that she was talking about birth charts. So I'd never heard the term birth charts before, but since she was an astrologer, I knew it was related to astrology, and that just immediately piqued my interest. Like, a birth chart. the way I interpret it was I have a complete chart of my birth in astrology somehow?
This is where my, my brain was firing at the moment
Like I automatically thought of like a medical chart. Like when you have a medical chart that's like your chart, that's like your entire medical history. So I was thinking of birth chart in a similar way. Like I have some kind of astrological chart that tells me all about myself. Like what the hell is a birth chart?
So basically what a birth chart [00:06:00] is, it's a picture of the sky of where the sun, the moon, and all of the planets were as if you were looking at it from the location of your birth it's how all of the planets were positioned at the exact time of your birth
what I actually found really interesting is that birth charts have been around for thousands of years. and yet I had never even heard about it before
So you know me, I'm super curious. I had to find out, like, why were these even created? Why would someone decide that the sky has anything to do with a person or their life? And I found that ancient philosophers created them for that reason. They created them to help them understand a human's destiny, and in a sense, like, their life path
But I'm not gonna go there with you. We're gonna keep it stupid simple. Like I said, I am not an astrologer. I am not trying to get that complicated with you. We're not going back into ancient philosopher times
But I just thought it was so interesting. Like, I have a birth [00:07:00] chart. Guess what? You have a birth chart. Everyone has a birth chart. Isn't that cool? I genuinely thought that I was just a Libra, that that was my sign and that was it. I had no idea that I had all kinds of other signs in my chart
And I've always found it really interesting and intriguing when more than one person with the same zodiac sign had very similar personality traits. So for example, my youngest sun, Zanden, and then my mother-in-law,
they're about 60 years apart, They're both Aries. Their birthdays are maybe, I think, five days apart. But they are so similar. they have the mouth of the South. They're both really loud. They're both very expressive. They're both not afraid of a little conflict. Aries is a warrior sign.
It's, ruled by the planet Mars, which is the planet of war.
And I find it so fascinating that they have such similar personalities. And I'm like, how could two people born 60 years [00:08:00] apart but have the same zodiac sign have that similar of a personality?
But at the same time, I always found it a little discouraging when, you know, I would meet other Libras, or I know other Libras, I probably know at least five that I could rattle off the top of my head, and we're all really different. maybe there's a few similarities, but for the most part, very, very different personalities.
That is always kind of what stumped me, and I think what has prevented me from looking into it any further, because if we're all a similar zodiac sign, shouldn't we be all acting similar?
But what I didn't know is your zodiac sign is just the placement of your sun. That is just where the sun was at the time of your birth, not where all of the other planets in your chart were
So you don't just have the sun in your chart, you've got the moon, you've got Saturn, you've got Venus, you've got all the planets in your chart. So you could have the same sun placement as someone else, but everything else could be [00:09:00] different, and that is gonna affect how you are, how you show up
not only do you have a ton of other planets in your chart, They're all in their own signs. Then on top of that, they're all in different houses and they all have different degrees.
. Okay? So we're not gonna get super complicated. I can't even get that complicated with you, to be honest. I, I can't even get that detailed, but it's a lot.
It is super complex
it's kind of funny because when I first discovered that there was so much more to astrology, when I started learning about birth charts and all that, I became so fascinated and so obsessed that that was one of the things that I thought, like, maybe this is my calling. Maybe this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
And then I realized how freaking complicated it was. I was like, "Nope, never mind. Abort. You guys got this. Astrologers, hats off to you because I don't, I don't know how you keep it all straight
Okay, so like I said, I'm gonna keep it super simple for you.
this is gonna be like birth charts 101, okay? [00:10:00] This is to the extent that I understand it. You're gonna understand it to the extent that I understand it, okay? So each planet in your chart
represents like a different part of you or like a different part of your experience. So think of it as like the what. Okay, the planet is the what
And then the zodiac sign that that planet is in represents the how
like how that part of you might express yourself. So for example, my sun is in Libra. Okay. So whatever your zodiac sign is, that is your sun in the zodiac sign. Okay.
And then the house where that planet and that sign live is the where that shows up in your life
So think of the house as like a house. so my sun is in Libra and my sun is in the 10th house, which is the house of career and purpose
but there are other houses, there's 12 houses total, that specialize in, you know, family, [00:11:00] finances, relationships, things like that
So the way I look at your birth chart is it's almost like it's your, your specific recipe, like your specific design of how you were made up when you were born
And not only how you were made up, like all of your special ingredients, but how you will interact with the world
So the piece that I was missing when I would find that other Libras were nothing like me was that we've got all of these different placements
So our Sun might both be in Libra, but all of our other planets could be in completely different signs, in completely different houses, completely different degrees . So our recipes are completely different
So one of the first things I learned about that I thought was really interesting was your big three. So your big three is your sun sign, so your zodiac sign that you probably already know, and then your moon and your rising sign
so your sun sign is your identity, your sense of self, which [00:12:00] is probably why we use it as our sign
but the moon is all about your emotions and how you might express your feelings
so for example, my moon is also in Libra, and Libra is the scales, that's all about balance and harmony but because my moon is in Libra, I feel like that has a lot to do with how I express my emotions because I'm always very steady. I actually was told at a previous, job from the owner that I was described as cool as a cucumber.
And people always tell me that I'm never too high, I'm never too low, and I rarely cry. I mean, I do cry, don't get me wrong, but actually my best friend was just here and she told me she thinks she saw me cry three times in our entire friendship, which now is probably like 30 years. So once every 10 years, I guess.
So I guess I'm emotionally balanced, which makes sense if the moon's emotions and Libra is all about balance.
But someone with maybe their moon in Cancer, [00:13:00] which Cancer is a water sign, which water signs are a little bit more emotional. Cancer's also ruled by the moon. They're gonna express their emotions a lot differently than I do. So even if we're both Libras, if our moons are different, the way we express our emotions are going to be night and day
So basically whatever sign the planet is in is going to affect the way it is expressed
so now we're gonna talk about your rising sign. Which this one's a little bit different because it's not actually a planet
It's the zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth
and it represents how you are perceived and how you show up in the world
so someone like me, you could have a pretty calm, laid back sun sign. Like for me it's a Libra. And then you could have like a super fiery rising sign, which for me is Sagittarius
that might bring out a completely different side of your personality
So that's the big three, your sun, your moon, and your rising. Then you have Mercury, which is all [00:14:00] about communication and the way you think
Then Venus is all about love and what you find beauty in
Mars is going to be your passion and what drives you or what you'll fight for
Jupiter is all about growth and prosperity and abundance.
And then Saturn is all about life lessons and hardships or limitations that you face
These are just, some of the basic planets. There are more,
like I said, this is a really basic intro to what they are, and later I will show you or tell you where you can look up your own birth chart but you're gonna have a lot of fun exploring it on your own
and let me tell you, when I started exploring mine on my own, I was stunned at what I found
Obviously that was after I figured out like what everything meant. but a lot of the different birth chart calculators that you can find give you really detailed explanations on what things mean, so you don't have to figure it out completely on your own.
So it [00:15:00] does all the hard work for you
so when I first looked up my own birth chart, I noticed that I had a bunch of planets in the 10th house. So of course, I wanted to find out what the heck this 10th house was all about
so I look up what the 10th house means and I'm like, " Hold up. You have got to be kidding me." Like, here I am questioning my purpose in life, obsessed with finding what I'm supposed to do, obsessed with feeling like this higher calling of wanting something more, but no idea what it's supposed to be And I find out that I have six planets in the house of career and purpose
Like, come on. Like, you can't tell me that that is a coincidence
that I'm just like going down this rabbit hole of my birth chart and I'm just dissecting every single placement, and I'm reading all the definitions
And then I find another part where it says, " You might change your goals, your ambitions, or your career multiple times in the pursuit of the perfect fit.". I don't know if you've heard my story [00:16:00] about how many things I've quit Trying to find what's for me I was just like, "Are you kidding me?"
Like, "Yes. Yes, I have. I have done that already. I have changed it so many times
And the, the crazy thing is that I always thought that that was a downfall. I always thought that that was, like, a flaw of mine, was constantly quitting and changing things and trying to figure things out. And looking at my birth chart, I'm like, " that's just who I am. That's just how I was designed.
There's nothing wrong with me." It just helped me understand myself so much better
And not only just understand myself better, but just understand that this is just my path. This is just part of my journey
and there's another thing that's super interesting that took me a really long time to figure out.
I don't know why this isn't talked about more. I stumbled across it probably a year after I really got into astrology, and it's called your part of fortune. It's also referenced as your lot of fortune, but it's basically where you will find the most [00:17:00] success and happiness in life. And why wouldn't you wanna know that?
I- that was like, what? There's a, an area that I can know where I'm gonna be the most successful and the most happy? Yes, please tell me, like, right now"
Okay, listen to my Lot of Fortune, my Part of Fortune. It says, " You enjoy inspiring others to understand themselves, and you find joy through transformation." Like, what? Now keep in mind, this is before I even knew what I wanted to do
So at this time I'm still feeling a little lost, feeling a little stuck, feeling unfulfilled, just trying to figure out what it is I'm supposed to do, what path I should be on. And I started to feel like I was on this treasure hunt, and I'm finding these little jewels along the way
And honestly, when I found astrology and birth charts, I felt like that was like a whole box of jewels. Like, oh my gosh, I cannot wait to get this home and open it up
So then I also have my Saturn in Libra, which is also in the 10th house. [00:18:00] And remember Saturn is all about like your limitations and hardships and lessons in life And it says you may experience difficulty or delays in achieving your goals
When you're at your best, you can transform your personal struggles into a model for others. Like, come on, I'm 40... No. Oh my gosh, I'm 44. I just had a birthday. Happy birthday to me. I'm 44. Like, I would consider that a delay in achieving my goal
most people have probably figured it out by now. It's taken me a little bit longer, but I'm not giving up
But the more I kept reading about my chart, I just was like, " Is there something here? Like, maybe I need to pay attention." Like, my little antennas went up, and I just really started to tune in
It just felt like all of these little pieces were starting to come together
And honestly, it felt like I was discovering an explanation for something that I had been feeling for so long
and also like this is all stuff in my life that was [00:19:00] already happening. . It wasn't happening because I found out about my birth chart. It was already happening.
The birth chart just helped me understand maybe why You know, it's funny,.. I'm such a nerd.. I wrote down every single description of every placement that I had in my 10th house
So like all the descriptions, all the planets, all the signs, what it meant, and I kept it in a little notebook next to my bed, and I would refer back to it like frequently to help keep it like top of mind
it felt like a little code that I was trying to crack because the definitions that you get are, they're not super specific, you know, like, ? You find joy through transformation or you enjoy inspiring others to understand themselves. At that time, I had no idea what that meant. it wasn't super clear. It didn't really make a ton of sense at the time
So I would like, I would like study it and I was trying to like crack this code and figure out what the hell all of this meant
it gave me so much to think about, and [00:20:00] slowly the answers started to reveal themselves
And this is one of the things, this is one of the self-discovery tools I used before I heard that little voice in my head telling me to help Eddie with his music. And then I was also doing meditation and things like that as well. I honestly think that meditating and then knowing my birth chart placements helped me tune in to that voice to understand that that was the beginning of my path
So because I saw that my part of fortune was part of, you know, helping other people understand themselves and I found joy through transformation, I wanted to help others that knew what they wanted to do and like a catalyst for them. So that's when I started helping Eddie with his music. I started helping my boys with their business.
I helped my oldest with his mental health group and I found so much joy in all of that
I realized like I love helping other people pursue their dreams. And how ironic is it that I'm over here trying to figure out what my dream life is, and it turns out I just wanna help everyone else [00:21:00] pursue theirs
I loved encouraging them and helping them figure things out and help them build belief in themselves
And also just like watching them get super excited about what they were doing. That was alone, that was exciting. That's part of the fun
that's what gave me the idea. That's when it got me wondering, like, maybe this is what I'm supposed to be doing
Now, I am not saying knowing my birth chart just, like, handed me my purpose on a silver platter. It was far from that
I had to figure out a lot on my own
But looking back, I really do feel like it gave me a ton of clues ? So why am I even sharing this with you?
Maybe you have this feeling like there's something more that you should be doing with your life And maybe you're like me and you have no freaking clue what it is
Or maybe there's something that you've always been interested in, something you've always been drawn to And you've never really understood why
Maybe you have certain strengths or, like, personality traits that you've never really appreciated about yourself
Or maybe like me, you've had things that you've struggled with your whole life And you just assumed it was a flaw?
So what [00:22:00] if looking at your birth chart gave you a whole new perspective on those things?
What if you found something out that was like, "Holy shit, that makes so much sense"?
I'm not saying that you're gonna look up your birth chart and you're gonna be like, "Oh my God, I know exactly what to do." I mean, that would be nice, but it's not realistic
and I'm also not saying that you should base every life decision solely based on your birth chart
But I do think it is an incredibly fascinating tool for self-discovery
Maybe you'll find something that resunates with you it'll help you understand yourself a little bit better
Maybe you'll notice a strength that you've been overlooking
Or just give you the confidence to try something that you've been curious about
And if you're already on a journey like mine where you're just trying to figure out who you are and what you want out of life
Why wouldn't you want a tool that might help you?
And the best part is you don't have to do anything with it
There's no requirement, but it couldn't hurt to check it out
So, okay, so if I've convinced you even a little to get a little curious about your birth chart, I'm gonna show you how you can find it
It's honestly super easy. I think [00:23:00] everybody should know their birth chart
Not because the planet should dictate how you live your life
But because I think that we should just be curious about anything that'll help us understand ourselves better
So if you have never looked yours up, this might be a little fun for you. I know it was super fun for me, and you might be really surprised at what you find
So to generate your chart, you are gonna need, hopefully you know your birth date. So you need your birth date. You also need the location of your birth, so the city and the state, and then the time. I know that's a little tricky for some people
If you don't know your exact birth time, there are still parts of your chart that you can explore
But certain things like your rising sign and I believe your house placements will not be accurate
But again, I'm not an astrologer, do your research on your own. But the website that I used for mine is called cafeastrology.com. I like it because it's got so much information out there. It's got damn near everything, honestly, and it's just really user-friendly. It's easy to read
And then I [00:24:00] also have a mobile app called Time Passages
And one thing I love about Time Passages is I have other people's charts on my phone too. So because I became so obsessed with my chart, I wanted everyone's that was close to me. So I have my husband's, I've got my two kids, I've got my mom, I've got my best friend's. And you can even do compatibility charts, which is really fun.
I think it's like a dollar to pay for other people's charts, but it's a really fun tool
So after you've pulled your chart, what I would recommend that you do
Is just look at your planet placements. Look at where they are. Look at the houses that they're in Look at what they all mean for me, like I focused on the areas that were meaningful to me. So when I noticed that there were six planets in the house of purpose and I'm over here struggling with my purpose, that's super meaningful to me.
I'm gonna put a lot of my focus there. So pay attention to the areas of your chart that stand out to you and resunate with you in your own life
I would for sure look at your sun, your moon, and your rising signs also
And of course, if you wanna find, you know, where you're gonna find the most [00:25:00] success and happiness in life, look at your part of fortune
One thing to keep in mind is that there were areas of my birth chart that really didn't make a lot of sense to me. And one thing I discovered was that when you're looking at your birth chart, you're looking at a definition of just that particular placement. It's not taking into account the collective view of your entire chart, at least not what I've found yet.
So you'll probably want to consult with an actual astrologer if you want a more holistic view of how all of your placements interact with each other. I have not done that yet, but just keep that in mind. If something doesn't resunate, leave it and just take what does
and as I mentioned, you know, I paid extra to have the birth charts of people that were really close to me because I don't think we often take into account that everyone is a different person. . I think oftentimes that we expect other people to think the same way as we do, [00:26:00] to view things the same way as us, to react the same way we do, and that's not realistic. And for me, I felt like having the birth charts of people that were really close to me would help me understand them a little bit better too.
You know, you can't just make someone be more emotional or be more sensitive, or you can't make someone not want to be, like, the center of attention
You know, understanding people's different tendencies can
help us appreciate their differences. And I, I look at it like you can't expect a pancake to taste like a taco. They're both delicious, but they're just different
And I think the more we understand each other's differences help us communicate and connect with each other a lot better
I also wanna add a fun little tidbit. Did you know that we're all made of stardust?
We're made up of 97% of the same atomic elements. Like what? . And again, I'm not a scientist. This is just something that I [00:27:00] found interesting But I wanted to share this because when I became completely obsessed with astrology and birth charts, and it gave me so many clues into who I am and what I wanted to pursue, that is actually what gave Starlit Success its name.
Because I was always, I felt like I was always looking to the stars for guidance, and starlit made it feel like you were being lit up by the stars. Like, I felt like I was being lit up by the stars, and success is really the achievement of a goal or a purpose. So how fitting, Starlit Success.
And honestly, I know I could have probably just been like the Jessica Gaines Show 'cause there's a ton of shows like that, like the Mel Robbins Show. We love her, right? But for me, it was something I wanted to do because I feel like you name things that you love and things that you care about, like your children and your pets, right?
Some people even name their cars, and I just really wanted to name it something that had meaning
So there [00:28:00] you go. That's how Starlit Success got its name, was through my discovery of birth charts and astrology
Okay, so after you got your birth chart, you looked at all your placements. do what I did, be a nerd. Write down what resunates with you. Write down all the little definitions of things that make you go, "Hmm." And refer back to it often Keep it at the top of your mind
So that way when something comes up, you're like, "Oh," and it, it might start clicking
You probably won't get all of the answers right away,
but just being aware will help you notice opportunities instead of just overlooking them
All right. That is what I have for you today, guys. I hope you have fun. Go look up your birth charts. Drop me a comment, send me a DM, tell me what you found in your birth chart that was so fascinating that you couldn't believe that it knew about yourself. I know I had a ton. I only listed a few on this podcast episode, but I didn't want this to be super long and super complicated or go into a long tangent all about me.
So I wanna hear about you. So please share what you [00:29:00] found. I would love to hear it, and thank you for spending your time and energy with me. I will see you on the next episode
