We are all consciously and unconsciously seeking meaning and a feeling that keeps us going beyond the material. Without feeling like we’re connected to a true and more transpersonal purpose, we seek fulfillment in areas of life that will never satisfy us - like materiality or living out the perceived purpose of others. To better understand and navigate our own inner purpose in life, here's an astrological perspective to uncovering soul purpose in the birth chart (a.k.a. radical self-acceptance and divine alignment).

Purpose is the direction the self is seeking. Your inherent will within and the universal will within you seeking to manifest. 

Astrology has very much been dumbed down in the modern era to bring it to the masses, but astrology is never as simple as it's often described where one point in the chart answers all your life's important questions on very deep topics (like your "soul purpose," for example). That's just not how it works. 

Your soul purpose is to self-actualize. This is how you find bliss. Your soul purpose is to claim your entire chart (the best version of it and its highest potential!) and let the cosmos experience itself through you - this alignment of wills between you and the universe is the true meaning of "yoga" in yogic philosophy, "wu wei" in Daoism, or "divine union" in Christian mysticism. This is the act of becoming no one and everyone all at once by letting the universe truly live through you and stop letting everything your conscious self or ego thinks you should do & be run the show. 

Ultimately, your “soul purpose” is not just any single or sole one of the following pieces only, but the following lens helps us break it down and understand ourselves and our journeys. I synthesize the whole chart when answering the question of soul purpose and focus largely on the pieces below to tell the story.

Your Rising Sign

Your ascendant or rising is the sign and degree that were physically rising at the horizon at your birth. What was rising at your birth is rising within you (as above, so below). Your AC/DC line is the path of physical journey and by feeling 'on path' you will feel like you're living 'on purpose.'

Your Will

Mars represents your will to act and be. Pluto represents your divine will. Pluto is your unconscious self’s deepest desires to be here.

Your Chart Ruler

Your chart ruler is your steer captain, leading the direction of your life and your life journey. When you follow this intuitive direction in life, you will feel more on path (it's not easier, it's on path!). 

The 12th House

The 12th house isn’t just about losses and your karma... Your whole chart is your karma or houses 1-11 are one very large glitch in the matrix. The 12th house often represents the career we hold beyond the material or typical career. A sacrifice, giving back, or where you can contribute to something larger than yourself.

The 10th House and/or Midheaven

Your midheaven is representative of what you’re reaching towards. It’s your greatest achievements and where you can feel ‘on path’ in the public realm. Your 10th house, which is not always the same as your Midheaven in the whole sign house system, represents your public image, and career.

The Lunar Nodes

The south and north lunar nodes in the birth chart represent where your consciousness is evolving and depict some of the most critical story lines of your life. They reveal your unconscious desires and drives. Your fated path of spiritual development and psychological integration. This is one of the most important aspects of a chart for me.

Atmakaraka

This is a Vedic Astrology technique and represents your ultimate soul’s desire to develop in this lifetime. Your atmakaraka is seeking to be embodied and made whole. It will contribute to a lot of the momentum or archetypal energy you need in life to feel like you’re living ‘on purpose.’

Your Sun

Your Sun is your ultimate essence and your core archetype. Letting it shine fully and growing into it, the best version it can be, is part of your purpose (if not the most essential part of your journey). 

-Susan Reis / The Cyclical Seed