by Barry Kerr

Do you ever wonder why your life is what it is? Why do you have your particular appearance and personality? Why did you inherit those exact genes? And what about that childhood family, those parents … or lack thereof? Perhaps, for you, there is some level of pain or discomfort that accompanies these questions.

Perhaps you remember, like most people do, that as a small child, you felt some sense of wrongness or pain about being in this world. Something wasn’t right. It might be an obvious memory of being physically or psychologically abused or neglected. Or it could be a subtle feeling, a latent adult and vague awareness of something amiss and incomplete in those early years of naivety.

Whether obvious or subtle, such childhood experiences carry deep and profound messages into our adult years, often resulting in repeated patterns of sadness, anxiety, fear, aggressiveness, withdrawal, depression or an assortment of other life-depleting behaviors. At some point, if your own pattern becomes enough of a hindrance to your sense of enjoyment or well-being, you may find yourself confused and seeking answers to these questions, longing for some perspective and meaning. Ultimately, you may be longing for relief, for healing, for wholeness. You might turn to a healer, a therapist, a psychic or a spiritual teacher.

Among the many effective resources addressing this longing, there is one that is emerging as a profoundly direct and efficient channel to decipher the context and meaning of your unique life and your avenues for healing and fulfillment. Whether you suffer from ongoing pain and seek healing, or you just feel a need for clarity and direction in your life, soul-based astrology offers clear and reliable guidance and answers. When combined with modern psychology, healing and spiritual growth coaching, it becomes a powerful tool for personal transformation.

You probably know your own astrology birth sign, whether it’s Leo or Capricorn or some other. Perhaps you occasionally read the simplistic astrology “forecasts” in your newspaper. If that’s all you know of astrology, put aside your preconceptions, for you will be surprised to discover that in your astrological birth chart (based on the date, location and exact time of birth), there are many other factors involved, including all the planets, the moon and other astronomical references. These all have particular meanings that reflect the complexity of your own, unique inner make-up. Some are contradictory, reflecting the inner parts of you that often seem contradictory. Others represent the ways your inner parts seem to co-exist with ease and contentment. This is a deep and rich blend of science and wisdom, used by thousands of well-respected mental health professionals, including Jung, himself.

Unlike psychic readings or serendipitous moments of inner revelation, within this complex language of symbols, a combination of logic and intuition allows you to “read” for yourself, the information that can answer your deepest questions about your life. You can find revealed, in your birth chart, the reasons your soul chose this particular lifetime, the goals your soul wants to reach, and the particular ways that your personality, parents, siblings, other significant relationships and childhood circumstances, including the pain, are supportive and loving parts of your soul’s plan. Your chart can also give you and an ally insights into how, with more awareness of that plan, you can increase your prospects for healing, learning and growing faster, so you can increase your sense of fulfillment and maximize your life potential.

A soul-based astrology reading, for many, is a life-altering experience. To be able to know, first hand, that your unique personality and life was reflected accurately at birth in the configuration of the planets in our solar system is not only an awesome mystical experience that confirms the absolute positive and loving nature of our universe, but also one that you can return to at any moment throughout the rest of your life. That makes it a very useful tool for ongoing self-awareness and for understanding your relationships to others. No wonder so many healers, coaches and therapists are using astrology as part of their ongoing service to clients. By tapping into the archetypical energies of a person’s make-up and current situation so directly, it catalyzes and amplifies the intuitive awareness from the soul that enhances lasting healing and personal transformation.

This article was first published in Natures Pathways magazine in November, 2013.