To help you narrow in on what your personality type is, or to start getting more specifics about your personality type and how to work with it, your natal chart in astrology can help give this kind of insight.
John Beebe’s personality type model, which I’ve written several posts about, works especially well with astrology because his model is archetypal.
Your personality type shows you where you are one-sided. The chart gives context and points to the areas of life where that one-sided tendency occurs. It can also help you understand why, for example, your third function seems stronger to you than it does for others you know with that same personality type.
Astrology is nuanced and the archetypes are multi-valent, so it isn’t as simple as saying, “You have four planets in Taurus! You must be an ESFP!” The alchemy between personality types and astrology goes deeper than that.
When looking at a chart from the perspective of personality, the first thing to look at is the rising sign, which is the first of the 12 houses on the zodiacal wheel of your chart. The rising sign is what was rising in the east at the moment of your birth.
The rising sign, and the planet that rules it, is the one part of the chart that is personal and all about you. The other 11 houses are areas of life and much of what is there is outside you.
Ancient astrologers called the rising sign the “helm.” The ruler (or host) of rising was described as like a helmsman. They viewed life as like a journey across the sea and the helmsman helps steer the ship.
There are 12 zodiac signs and therefore 12 rising signs. There are 12 different versions of each rising sign when you take into account the location of the example, Virgo rising with helmsman Mercury in the 1st house. Virgo rising with Mercury in the 2nd house. And so on. So only 1 out of every 144 people would have the same rising sign combination as you.
As an astrologer one of the first things I look at is the rising sign and location of the helmsman. Right away that tells you some of the characteristics of the person and the area of life that is a focus for them.
I’ll have some examples in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.
