Regardless of where we’re at in our journey with astrology, the process of learning about our charts can quickly become complicated and bogged down with technicalities. We can get caught up in the complexity of aspects, caught in our heads about the signs, and intellectualize our understanding.

Something that’s been helpful for me to deepen my understanding and not get caught in the complexity, was some wisdom shared by one of my first teachers. He compared the natal chart to a mandala. This image has always stuck with me. As I sat with this concept and put it into practice in my life, it felt more and more true. 

From this perspective, we can approach the chart intuitively. One that taps into our inner knowing, which allows the chart to emerge for us over time. 

Mandalas are symbolic circular images that have been used as meditative tools across cultures throughout the ages. They hold meaning and as Jung describes them, they are representations of the Self–the totality of the unconscious and conscious parts of ourselves, the wise part of us, the innate genius that guides us on our path.

“This circular image represents the wholeness of the psychic ground or, to put it in mythic terms, the divinity incarnate in man.” Carl Jung

Mandalas reflect the entirety of a person’s inner being – their wholeness and divinity within.

When we look at the natal chart, we can see the mandala image come alive visually and also within what the symbols represent – the archetypal totality of the psyche, represented by planets and signs around a wheel, representing different areas of life. The natal chart is archetypal by nature, which immediately drops us into the territory of the soul.

If we approach our chart as a mandala, the symbols unfold in our consciousness and connect us to a deeper understanding of the Self.

Working with the chart as a mandala

Traditionally, mandalas have been used as a meditative tool that helps us deepen our self-understanding and connects us to something ancient and deep within ourselves. 

In this sense, instead of getting in our heads about our charts, we are invited to simply sit with them with curiosity and presence, without overanalyzing. This allows meaning to unfold organically. The intuitive function takes over. Psyche guides the process.

Working with the chart in this way has a grounding effect. It takes off the pressure of having to understand what it means. Rather we’re invited to just be with it, to follow threads of curiosity, to allow the symbols to guide us. Notice which feels alive, what patterns you see, and what images come up for you as you do so. What do you notice about the symbols?

With this, I invite you to approach your chart with presence – embrace the mysteries, questions, and unknowns. Over time, like the mandala, the chart comes alive in new ways.

Some simple exercises:

• Sit in a relaxed position, a calming space. Perhaps meditation music or a candle. Sit with a print out of your chart, allow your gaze to soften. What arises for you? What do you notice?
• Draw the symbols
• Trace the lines of different aspects
• If there’s an area of your chart you’re curious about, ask for a dream before you go to bed. 
• Journal about different placements, signs or aspects
• Pull your chart, or a part of your chart into your minds eye and meditatively breathe into it
• Active Imagination (a process coined by Jung of deepening our relationship with unconscious figures): Take a symbol from your chart, close your eyes, bring in into consciousness and ask it questions, allow it to respond

Overall, let your chart be a mirror to watch yourself grow. Make it part of your reflective and meditative practice. When we build relationship with our charts, we build relationship with ourselves.