Your Personality Genes!

Excited to get started? I am. Ok, so your personality is made up of a LOT of differnet variables right? You can't just say " I'm a scorpio." and expect that to sum up your whole existance right? If someone tells you they are a scorpio or a taurus or whatever, they are really telling you what part of the sky the sun was in when they were born. Each person's peronality DNA can be draw out on a birth chart. Birth charts look a lot like pie charts and each slice of the pie is a zodiac sign. But in reality this pie chart isnt just a map of your personality it's also very literaly a map of the night sky when you were born. So the 12 zodiac signs that are in the 12 pie slices are the regions of space around the planet earth which you can assume is at the very center because that's the planet you were born on. ... I hope.

Now you can fill in these great maps with the exact location of every single star, planet, rock, dust particle, and piece of space junk but that dosen't mean that they'll all tell you something about who you are or what you need. So it's important to know what things on this map have meaning! There are actually SIX things on this map that will describe your personal traits. There are two objects on the map that will describe the challenges and opportunites of your life. And there are three objects on each of our maps which will tell us a little bit about how we will find our place in the bigger picture of society, world history, or something like that.

SIX Personality Genes:

1. Sun sign - this is the typical, cliche, I'm a scorpio sign. It's the sign that the sun was in when you were born. And just like somewhere out there in the twisted genes in your cells there is a little gene that has decided what color hair you have, this personality gene is a part of your ego. It's the person that other people think you are when you first meet them. But it's also the part of you that has been created by your environment. It's who you were told to be or expected to be. So you might call it the outer most part of your personality. It's the persona that you wear out all the time and maybe you like it or maybe you don't. But the odds are that it's not who you'd like to be in the future.  Remember that there is and always has been a difference between who we think we are, who other people think we are, and what we are actually capable of being.

2. Rising sign - this isn't actually an object in the sky, it's more like a mathematic equation. But the important part is that this is the gene for our inner sense of self. Sometimes we haven't fully developed into it yet and it's the person we think we want to be someday. But I think that even if you don't know a person very well yet, knowing who they WANT to be is almost more informitive than knowing their past. Because you can't change the things that have already happened so mapping out a person's past has it's limits. But mapping a person's future? The possibilites are endless. In some ways a person's sun sign can feel like their past while the rising feels like their future. It isn't necesarilly that easy. But when a person reads the descriptions of their signs they may feel that way.

3. Moon sign - Your moon sign is where the moon was when you were born. It describes your sub concious self. And that's a little bit of a puzzle in it's self isn't it? Because how many people really know for sure who their sub concious self is anyway? It's the part of you that just reacts to things without thinking or worrying how others will react. And in many cases it will show us our insecurities. By that I mean it will show us the things that make us feel safe and the things that make us uncomfortable even if we don't know why.

4. Mercury sign - This is the sign Mercury was in when you were born. This gene will tell us what style of learning works best for you, how you like to receive information, how you like to convey information to other people, and the frequency that your brain works on during a normal day. When you look at another person's mercury sign you will have a better idea of how to tell them things in way they can understand and also a better idea of what they're trying to say too.

5. Venus sign - This is the sign Venus was in when you were born. It's going to tell you what type of things you like. This could be your favorite smells, favorite food, music style, or your sense of fashion and how you decorate. WHY? well because at the very heart of it this sign tells you what you want from the world and from others. It tells you a lot about what you're looking for. It's your sense of good taste in people, places, things, and ideas.

6. Mars sign - This is the sign that Mars was in when you were born. It's going to tell you about your physical energy level and the types of things that motivate you into action.

These six genes work togeather in a variety of ways so that no two combinations are alike. Here are a few examples of how they work togeather. If a person's sun sign is completely different than their rising sign then they might feel like they are being forced to be someone they don't want to be. Or they might just feel very confused about who they are and who they want to be. But if the two signs are signs that work well togeather then a person might feel like he is completely sure of himself and who he is and what he wants. For an idea of what signs work well togeather and which don't, remember when we talked about the elements! Some elements work so well togeather it's like they were made for eachother.

We are going to take a much closer look at all of these signs so don't worry, there is a lot more to come and more to explain! In the mean time, here is a link to a website which will allow you to find out what all of YOUR signs are! All you need to know is the day, month, year and place you were born. But if you want to know you're rising sign then you will have to know the time that you were born also. If you don't know the right time you can still find out all of your other signs but I'm sure you can imagine why it would be very important to know a person's rising sign too.

Here is the link:   http://www.alabe.com/freechart/

The Elements - Fire

Today's black friday, so a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you spent the time appreciating what you have in your lives. It's easy to get really caught up in your goals and the things you want for the future without really taking time to like enjoy anything you have NOW. So I hope everyone took a moment to appreciate those things yesterday!

Now getting back to astrology... I'm sure many people are already aware that in western astrology there are four elements. Even if you didn't know that I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble guessing what they are.  The elements are and how they affect the 12 zodiac signs could be called the basics of your personality's DNA. Fire is my favorite. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are considered to be the three signs " ruled" by fire. You will see that term in astrology books a lot but I don't really like it. Rather I would say that Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are the 3 expressions of fire. Fire is passionate. What is passion? On one occassion I was guest speaking at my former high school with a friend who I'd graduated with long ago. He was telling a class about what it was like to pursue art on a college level. As he spoke the gaze in his eyes traveled further and further away. He wasn't looking at the students, or over their heads, he wasn't even in the same room with them. The words he spoke came tumbling out smoother, stronger, as he described the mediums he used and the faces he drew. Public speaking had never been his element but at that moment it didn't matter because he had transcended us and left us all behind. Standing right beside him, I knew even I was gone in his mind and a wave of envy crashed over me. Because the passion for his craft was radiating from him, vibrating through every word. But I couldn't find that passion in myself and I couldn't be lost in the moment with him. I could only stand and watch like the rest of them.  I suppose when put to defining it, passion is a love of something + a tremendous amount of energy seeking an outlet.  In my friend's life the outlet is art, but it can be different things for different people. Passionate people are often a little unpredictable. We can understand this by saying that if their energy is similar to a fire then it's not as simple as an electric light simply being either "on" or " off", instead their intensity flickers and because of that they can be perceived as quick tempered or moody or a little unbalanced.

Now let's think of this as being a scale:
Aries  -   ----------------------- - - - -  - - - - - Leo  - - - - - - - - -   -   -   -   Sagittarius -   -    -    -    -    -    -

Aries :   Intense energy has a more physical and aggressive feel           
Leo:    Intense energy has a more fun, theatrical feel, less aggressive, still in your face.                          Sagittarius:  Intense energy that is less aggressive, less vocal,
                     more like a candle of inspiration, not a bonfire.

It's important to remember that EACH person is a COMBINATION of these 12 signs. No one is just one zodiac sign. This blog is covering the basics first. Because a human being's personality is made up of many traits, some they were born with and some they have learned through their life situations. So each zodiac signs should be viewed as just one gene in your personality's DNA.
Now astrology offers even more ways to understand the intensity levels of each of the fire signs. In astrology there are 3 " modes". They are called cardinal, fixed, and mutable. 

Cardinal =  energy that pushes outward towards others. Aries is the cardinal fire sign. It's energy is a bonfire that is always reaching outward to consume more, have more, and control more.

Fixed = energy that is consistent and this is important - anchored in it's self - Leo is the fixed fire sign. It's energy is a campfire and it's sense of self is strong. It's not as consuming but it will never let it's self be ignored.

Mutable = energy that can shift and change the most. It can change the most because it is the least intense. Sagittarius is the mutable fire sign. It's energy might be over looked because it adapts to situations instead of insisting that it's way is the only way.

I hope you've enjoyed this basic explanation of the fire element in astrology. My next post will reveal the air element and how it pairs with fire elements! This is all leading up to some great astrology for relationships so keep reading!