Ciao from Umbria, Italy! Well, not quite yet. My fiancé and I are moving on to our next and final leg of vacation, a wine & olive oil farm/resort in Italy’s Green Heart.
I’m very excited to write about my recent foray into astrology, where I had my very first birth chart reading. Since the new year, I’ve been getting pings from the universe to explore astrology more. I’ve been having this feeling that somehow, learning about astrology is going to tie into the journey I’m on to discover my purpose.
Whether astrology will actually be a part of my purpose is to be determined, but I believe that gathering all of the information about ourselves we possibly can will have an outsize effect on helping us truly know our selves as deeply as possible. And if you’ve been with me here for a little while, you know that purpose is top of mind and heart.
So, I was excited to have found Anna Hull through a back issue of The Retreat newspaper. Anna’s positive presence and approachability really shone through her writing, and I felt great about booking a session with her.
I am very glad I did, because I truly had such a fantastic experience and learned a lot about not only astrology—its purpose, its application potential—but also about the specific energetics at play in my own chart!
If you’re curious to book a session of your own with Anna, you will be glad you did! :)
I truly hope you enjoy hearing about my experience, and learn something if you’ve been contemplating learning a bit about how the astrologic forces can affect you in our day-to-day, and even entire lives.
And don’t miss the list of resources at the end for exploring your own astrology! Let me know what you think ☺️
For Ease of Navigation Through the Guide:
Reasons to Have an Astrology Chart Reading
Expectations Going In + What I Hoped to Gain
General Astrology Things I Learned
Resources to Play and Get Curious
Reasons to Have an Astrology Chart Reading
No matter your stage of life, no matter your journey’s direction or progression, I believe you could benefit from an astrology reading.
If you go into it with an open mind, and find an astrologer from a verifiable or trusted source like I did, then you can’t go wrong!
Maybe….
You want clarity on the stage of life you’re in and how you can work with your unique energetics to make the most of it
You’re curious about the aspects of your personality and propensities that reign in your day-to-day life
You feel out of alignment in the life you’ve built
You want to learn about your unique strengths and potential blind spots
You want clarity on the things you’re doing and why you do them, the way something in your life has been playing out
You’re simply curious about a new way to get to know yourself
Expectations Going In + What I Hoped to Gain
Being completely new to astrology—literally, I only knew “I’m a cancer!” and had no real clue what that means on either a stereotypical or practical basis—I went into the session with almost no expectations. I figured I’d have a casual 60-minute chat with a nice woman who was recommended via a publication I trust, and maybe learn something about myself that resonated.
Specifically though, I was hoping that some of these questions—and YES I am exactly the type of person who makes lists of literally everything floating around my head—would get answered.
If you’ve never had a reading before and you decide to, I’d recommend really giving some thought beforehand to what you’re hoping to gain from it.
Recognize that you may not necessarily get the exact answers you seek (or are hoping for) and allow for the experience to be open-ended.
Have faith to surrender the result, and trust that what’s meant to come of it will.
The Experience
Having never met Anna before, her presence was exactly what I’d been hoping for — warm, inviting, highly knowledgeable, and excited to be chatting with me.
She started by asking what my level of experience with astrology is, whether I knew of any of the components of my birth chart. My answer was a resounding “no” and that was okay!
It’s completely fine to approach an astrology session without having any knowledge of astrology whatsoever. In fact, Anna was really happy about me having a blank slate to build upon!
Right before we started digging into everything, Anna started recording our Zoom session so she could send it to me after. I didn’t realize how helpful that’d be, but I’ve already rewatched it! I highly recommend checking with your astrologer to see if they’ll record your session and send it to you after.
What are the energetics of your chart? Not necessarily who you are, but what energies you naturally lean towards, maybe are deficient in, and can cultivate and stoke at any given point in your life to enhance what you’re working towards.
~Anna Hull
General Astrology Things I Learned
The sign we all know most commonly is your sun sign
Even though we all have the twelve zodiac signs in our chart, there are three most prevalent signs: sun sign, rising sign, and moon sign
The sun sign may be what your ego or conscious mind gravitates towards
The rising sign is your soul’s truest expression
The moon sign represents your emotional inner world—how you process and respond to feelings
My signs are
Cancer sun
Sagittarius rising
Virgo moon
There are twelve houses in astrology - each represents a particular area of our collective experience. For example, the 7th house represents partnerships and relationships. The 9th house represents travel, philosophy, and higher learning.
The North Node can signal the direction your soul is meant to grow toward in this lifetime
The South Node represents the patterns and comfort zones you naturally fall back on, or the experiences you’ve already had in a previous lifetime
If none of these things mean any sense, that’s okay! I wouldn’t have had a clue about any of them before my session, either. If your interest is piqued, leave or comment or DM me and we can learn together!
Biggest Takeaways
My sun sign — cancer is a water sign. However, neither of my other major signs (sagittarius and virgo) are water signs. In astrology, water can be permeable, and those who have dominant water in their charts can have trouble setting boundaries. But with only a bit of water, my chart indicates I’d be perceptive rather than permeable.
How it landed: I totally resonate with this... I do feel that one of my authentic gifts is to perceive others’ emotions, moods, states of mind. When my social battery is fully charged, I can read + work a room with the best of ‘em. I have also worked hard to strengthen my confidence on personal boundaries in my adult life post-bullying experiences in high school, and I am thankful to now feel a lot of ease saying “no” to things that don’t align. As taught in my TBM practice: the most magnetic word is “no.”
Cancer’s time period (June 21 through July 22) marks the beginning of summer, and summer intensifying. Flora and fauna are in the height of bloom, and they bear quite a bounty during this time. So, people with cancer sun signs are known to bring things to life, and be nurturing of their fruits in whatever form they may take.
How it landed: I do find a lot of satisfaction in watching something I create come to life. Feeling like I’m co-creating with the universe to birth something. Plus, to nurture someone else’s cares, worries and dreams gives me immense gratification. I think I’m good at holding space for others’ experiences, while encouraging action and thriving.
My rising sign — sagittarius is a fire sign. It uplifts, it represents energy rising, bubbling, pushing through to the surface. It wants to move forward, move faster, go further. To learn more, to connect deeper, to make moves. The keyword for sagittarius is “freedom.”
How it landed: When I get the urge or idea to do something, you can count on me researching, making to-do lists, reaching out to relevant people, carving out time, and making moves to either explore it to the fullest until I determine I’m no longer interested, or until it comes to life. In the sense of nurturing my passions and interests, this is right up my alley!
My moon sign — Virgo is an earth sign. It’s grounded, and is the sign of discernment + alchemy. Virgo discerns all of the observations and experiences one has, and alchemizes all of those data points in such a way to be most helpful to others in sharing knowledge or helping with something.
How it landed: You’re reading my Substack right at this very moment, right? 😉
Interestingly, virgo falls in my tenth house—the house of career, reputation and legacy. So, when I’m living out of alignment and my soul isn’t able to pick up on the things it yearns to experience and discern, I feel it very loudly.
How it landed: This hit! Totally spot on, I have been questioning my alignment in my current career path, and it’s really been amplified since discovering Substack and having exposure to all the incredible writers who are living their lives out loud, and helping people via their lived experience.
Overall, we spoke about how I feel so many threads of interest and passion that I feel called to explore. But, I’ve been feeling confused because once I explore them, I follow them, and then I get bored and move on.
I’ve been guilting myself about that part quite a bit, in all honesty.
But, Anna shared that I don’t have to. I have a pretty varied chart and energetics surrounding my soul, so it’s literally only natural for my soul to express itself and follow curiosity in varied ways.
In the last three years, I’ve been a cheesemonger, a wine sales associate, a yoga studio gal, owner of a social media business, writer of this Substack, and there’s probably more I’m forgetting.
Anna gave me the cosmic permission slip I needed by showing me that not only is there immense beauty in following all these different passions, but for me — it’s the point.
Each passion I follow allows me to gain experience and wisdom that I will inform the next, and I’m building upon my lived experience in real time.
I feel even more blessed to be able to share that experience with my friends and family, and just as much with you right here 💚
The more you allow your passions to breathe and weave, the more they will flow and fulfill you.
~ Anna Hull
Resources to Play and Get Curious
Human Design — to learn about your unique Energy Type
Here’s a great episode from Move With Heart all about Human Design featuring Jenna Zoe— the woman who has popularized it to be as big as it is today
Co-Star — to get a free copy of your Natal Chart
Anna Hull’s Substack — a lovely go-to resource straight from my astrologer
Podcast episodes that gave me the astrology ping so far this year
Expanded: Why You Feel Disconnected From Your Intuition (And How to Reclaim It) with Taylor Paige
The Sakara Life Podcast: Finding Purpose in the Planets with Susan Miller
Have any astrology-related podcasts, Substacks, books, Instagram accounts for your dose of astrology? Let me know!!
Glossary
Birth chart / Natal chart — A personalized snapshot of the sky at the exact moment you were born, which shape the unique energies of who you are
Zodiac sign — Twelve archetypes that describe different personality traits and ways of moving through the world. We each have three zodiac signs: sun, rising, and moon
Sun sign — The part of you you’re most aware of and identify with, and the most typical sign you associate with/buy jewelry based on
Moon sign — Your inner emotional world. How you feel, process, and respond beneath the surface.
Rising sign — The energy you naturally lead with. How others experience you and how you step into new situations
House — A specific area of life (like love, career, or home) where different parts of your chart show up and play out
Planet — Each planet represents a different part of you, like how you think, love, act, and communicate
Elements (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) — The four energy styles that shape the signs
Fire - passionate and action-oriented
Earth - grounded and practical
Air - curious and communicative
Water - intuitive and emotion-oriented
I truly hope you got something out of this guide and reading about my experience as a total newbie to astrology—maybe even wanting to dip a toe in for yourself!
