How I Work With Astrology
It’s Written In The Stars
For millennia, people used the stars to survive — to travel, to plant, to know where they were. We think we’ve outgrown that because we’ve got satellites and GPS. But you don’t get a GPS for your inner life. You still need the stars for that. Astrology is how you navigate what’s going on inside — your wiring, your patterns, your direction.
Reading The Map Of Your Inner Architecture
This is an example of an astrological birth chart - it’s a snapshot of the heavens at the exact moment someone is born.
But it’s more that just a picture of the sky.
It’s a symbolic map of your inner world - the structural blueprint of how you’re built emotionally, mentally, perceptually, relationally, spiritually.
A birth chart doesn’t tell you your fate. It helps you understand your internal patterns and wiring.
Because you’re not random, and neither is life.
You came into this world on purpose, with purpose, with a specific design, and astrology gives us the language to read it.
Using the date, time, and place of birth, we can calculate the coordinates of your life’s structure and inner framework. With it we can begin to decode what it reveals about how you experience life and what makes you uniquely you.
For me, your birth chart is not a personality test.
It’s not predictive.
It’s not mystical.
It’s a technical map of how you’re built.
Astrology is a Symbolic Language
The language of astrology is made up of four distinct sets of symbols that weave together to describe how you function, where your challenges and strengths lie, and how to navigate your life with more clarity and integrity.
These layers -
Planets (12 Aspects of the Psyche)
Signs (12 Archetypal Patterns/Styles)
Houses (12 Regions of Life & Human Development)
Elements (4 Modes of Being)
are complex on their own, but it’s in the way they combine and interact that the bigger picture emerges. Read together, they tell a precise story of your design, your wiring, and your unique way of moving through the world.
Planets
12 Aspects of the Psyche - the What
The planets represent universal aspects of being human, core functions within your inner architecture - theWhat on your quest for self-knowledge. Each one symbolises a different aspect of your psyche, a working part of the self that plays a major role in how you engage with life.
Each planetary symbol is a facet of consciousness that plays out through your choices, challenges, instincts, relationships, and growth. They don’t describe traits or behaviours in isolation. They show what’s operating inside you (and every other human being) at all times.
You can think of the planets as symbolic representations of universal forces within the psyche, each one performing a job, carrying a function, holding a particular tension and drive.
Each of the 12 planetary symbols is complex and much can be derived about our internal structure and wiring. Here are a few examples:
Function of the Psyche - The Moon Symbol
The position of the Moon symbol in your chart reflects how your wired emotionally, your emotional baseline, your instinctive responses, and what you need to feel safe. It describes how you self-soothe, what you protect, and what feels familiar at a soul level. The Moon also points to your inherited patterns, the emotional memory of where you come from, and the instincts you fall back on when life feels uncertain.
Function of the Psyche - The Mars Symbol
The position of the Mars symbol in your chart reflects how you act, assert, defend, and respond to pressure. It shows where your drive and energy are directed, how you initiate movement, and what pushes you into action. Mars reveals your instinctive response to challenge, whether you fight, avoid, or confront, and the style in which you pursue what you want.
Function of the Psyche - The Saturn Symbol
The position of the Saturn symbol in your chart reflects where you’re learning responsibility and structure, the part of you that matures through self-discipline, effort, and long-term commitment. It also reflects where you’ll face challenges, feel pressure or limitation, and why, how, and where life is shaping you toward mastery.
Function of the Psyche - The Mercury Symbol
The position of the Mercury symbol in your chart reflects how you think, perceive, and communicate. It shows us the patterns of your mind — how you process information, make connections, and express ideas. It describes your natural learning style, the way you translate experience into language, and how you share or withhold your voice.
Each aspect of the psyche (planet) has a job. Reading the chart is about understanding how and why (sign) each job is being carried out, and where (house/region) that function tends to rise to the surface in your life.
Signs
12 Archetypal Patterns/Styles/Filters - the How and Why
The signs reveal the operating style of each planetary function, which of the 12 archetypal codes or energetic flavours that shapes how that part of you behaves, and why it functions in the way it does.
It doesn’t change the function, it changes the form and tone of that function. They don't describe "who you are" in a flat or final sense. Instead, they show the archetypal pattern behind how you think, feel, act, relate, and express. They shape your perception of reality, the inner filter through which you experience and interact with the world around you.
Here’s how the same Venus function (Love - giving and receiving, Values, and Relational Intelligence) looks through different signs and how the same archetypal code can distort when under pressure, fear, or habit. Neither is “good” or “bad” they’re two sides of the same archetypal code. The point is not to get rid of the unconscious expression, but to recognise it and learn how to bring it into conscious use.
Function of the Psyche - Venus + Archetypal Pattern/Style - Virgo
Conscious Expression - A Venus function with a Virgo style builds connection through service, subtlety, and refinement. Love is shown by paying attention to the details. There may be a deep drive to get things “right” in order to feel safe in relationship.
Unconscious Expression - A Venus Function with a Virgo style can fall into criticism, over-analysis, or perfectionism in relationships. Love may be withheld until conditions feel “good enough,” which in turn creates an atmosphere of judgment rather than safety and connection. The drive to refine can become nitpicking, where service turns into self-sacrifice and intimacy feels conditional on flawless performance.
Function of the Psyche - Venus + Archetypal Pattern/Style - Aries
Conscious Expression - A Venus function with an Aries style builds connection through immediacy, passion, and directness. Love is expressed by taking initiative, pursuing what feels alive, and bringing heat and courage into relationship. There can be an instinct to move quickly, to test connection through action, and to value honesty over subtlety.
Unconscious Expression - A Venus function with an Aries style can collapse into impatience, impulsivity, or self-centeredness. Love may feel more like conquest than real connection, quick to start but difficult to sustain. The need for independence can overshadow the needs of the relationship, leaving affection inconsistent or short-lived. Conflict can become a default mode of intimacy, where closeness feels tied to friction rather than genuine presence.
Function of the Psyche - Venus + Archetypal Pattern/Style - Scorpio
Conscious Expression - A Venus function with a Scorpio style builds connection through depth, intensity, and unspoken loyalty. Love is shown by going beneath that surface, committing fully, and merging at a soul level. There may be a drive to test or transform relationship bonds, seeking truth and trust as the foundation of intimacy.
Unconscious Expression - A Venus function with an Scorpio style can collapse into control, jealousy, or possessiveness. Love may be tested through manipulation, secrecy, or emotional intensity that overwhelms rather than deepens trust. The desire for merging can blur into a fear of abandonment, binding the other in loyalty that feels like entrapment rather than devotional
Function of the Psyche - Venus + Archetypal Pattern/Style - Aquarian
Conscious Expression - A Venus function with an Aquarian style builds connection through freedom, difference, and shared vision. Love is shown by honouring individuality and supporting what makes each person unique. There’s often a need for relationships to be rooted in mutual respect, honesty, and a sense of contributing to something larger than just the two of you.
Unconscious Expression - A Venus function with an Aquarian style can detach emotionally, prioritising ideals or independence over intimacy. Love may feel distant, cerebral, or conditional on shared vision rather than shared feeling. The need for freedom risks turning into avoidance of vulnerability, leaving connection flat, unreliable, or coolly impersonal.
The sign tells you how that part of you (planet) functions best, what it's motivated by, what it values, it reveals unconscious biases, coping strategies, and why it might react the way it does when stressed, pressured, or at peace. The Sign is the archetypal code, the energetic style that gives shape to the raw planetary function.
Houses - (Regions Of Life)
12 Domains of Human Experience and Development — the Where
The houses divide the chart into twelve symbolic regions, each one representing a distinct area of life and field of human growth, development, & maturation. These are not events or external facts, they are arenas where your inner architecture meets the world.
They show where the different aspects of your psyche tend to express, develop, encounter challenge, or seek integration.
For example, Region 3 - Communication & Learning will take on different qualities depending on its Sign Style/Filter and if one or more Planets are situated there:
Region 3 - Communication & Learning + Aries Style/Filter
Thinking here is fast, direct, and instinct-driven. You process information quickly and often act on ideas before they’re fully formed. Communication tends to be bold and to the point, energised with immediacy, but sometimes blunt or impatient. At its best, this brings clarity and courage into everyday exchanges. Under pressure, it can rush, interrupt, or push too hard, leaving little room for listening or reflection.
Region 3 - Communication & Learning + Taurus Style/Filter
Thinking here is steady, practical, and grounded. You process information slowly and carefully, taking time to absorb before responding. Communication tends to be measured, consistent, and rooted in common sense, with a preference for what’s tangible or proven. At its best, this brings reliability, clarity, and a voice others can trust. Under pressure, it can become rigid, resistant to new ideas, or overly fixed in one perspective, making it hard to adapt or change your mind.
Region 3 - Communication & Learning + Sagittarius Style/Filter
Thinking here is broad, adventurous, and meaning-oriented. You process by connecting ideas to a larger framework or philosophy, often seeking truth and perspective. Communication tends to be open, enthusiastic, and direct, sometimes blunt but always aiming at honesty. At its best, this brings inspiration and vision to conversations. Under pressure, it can dismiss details, exaggerate, or preach, making dialogue feel one-sided.
Region 3 - Communication & Learning + Pisces Style/Filter
Thinking here is imaginative, intuitive, and fluid. You process through atmosphere, feeling, and symbol rather than linear logic. Communication often has a poetic or elusive quality, expressive but sometimes hard for others to pin down. At its best, this brings empathy, creativity, and sensitivity to what isn’t said. Under pressure, it can blur facts, avoid clarity, or drift into confusion, leaving others unsure of your meaning.
The house tells you where a function of your psyche is most likely to play out, not because it’s “fated,” but because it’s structurally wired into your experience of life. These are the symbolic life arenas where your inner design becomes real, visible, and testable in the world.
Elements
4 Modes of Being
Beneath planets, signs, and houses, there’s another critical layer: the four elements - Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.
The elements describe the basic energetic tone of your chart, the underlying rhythm of how you move through life. They provide even more context for everything else - showing the deeper wiring beneath how your planets function, how your signs express, and where your houses come alive.
Fire - Domain Of The Spirit - Your Intuitive Function
Fire is life force, it acts, initiates, brings vitality and urgency. When strong, it fuels courage, creativity, and forward movement. When absent, it can feel harder to access motivation, self-belief, a sense of independence and freedom. Fire shows the strength of the inner spark that drives you to begin, risk, and keep life moving.
Earth - Domain Of The Body - Your Sensory Function
Earth grounds, builds, sustains, and makes things real. When strong, it provides practicality, structure, and follow-through. When scarce, it can feel harder to stay anchored or finish what’s begun. Earth shows whether your wiring leans toward stability or resists it.
Air - Domain Of The Mind - Your Thinking Function
Air thinks, communicates, and connects. When strong, it thrives on conversation, perspective, and ideas. When absent, it can feel harder to detach, analyse, or find words. Air shows the mental climate you naturally live in.
Water - Domain Of The Heart - Your Feeling Function
Water feels, intuits, and bonds through depth. When strong, it brings empathy, memory, and emotional presence. When scarce, it can feel harder to connect to vulnerability or emotional nuance. Water shows whether your psyche naturally swims in feeling or needs to learn to enter it.
The elements aren’t seperate from the planets, signs, or houses, they add another layer of context and nuance to them. They show the energetic terrain that colours every planetary function, every sign style, and every region of life. Without them, the picture is incomplete.
Making It All Tangible
Astrology isn’t useful if it stays theoretical. The symbols matter, understanding the patterns matters, but only in relation to your lived experience.
That’s why in a session, we don’t just talk about “Venus with Virgo” or “Region 3 with Aries” as ideas. We take those patterns and marry them to your actual story - the relationships you’ve had, the choices you’ve made, the challenges that keep repeating, the things that come naturally to you and the places you get stuck.
This is where the chart becomes practical. Where you can see your wiring at work, not as fate, not as a label, but as a framework. Suddenly what felt random has structure. What felt like a flaw starts to make sense as part of a larger pattern. And you can begin to work with it, rather than against it.
Why It Matters
For me, this is the point of astrology, not prediction, not personality typing, not entertainment, but self-knowledge you can use.
The birth chart is a technical map of your inner architecture. But the session, the conversation between us, is where the map is read alongside your life. That’s where you begin to see your patterns in action, and where you can choose how to engage them differently.
Because when you understand how you’re built, you stop wasting time and energy trying to be something you’re not. You can lean into what’s natural for you, take responsibility for what’s difficult, and live with more clarity and integrity. Most importantly be able to contribute what makes you, you, to our world. We need you or you wouldn’t be here.