So… over on my instagram lately to keep myself sane and give me a reason to get dressed every day (thank you lockdown)... I’ve been going back to basics on a “Meet the Archetypes” series on reels. It’s been so much fun dressing up, picking songs and actions that I feel embody my interpretation of the 12 archetypes Aries through Pisces (If you’re interested in watching the series my instagram is Cosmos.via.Gabrielle, they’re fun.)
I’ve had a lot of really fun feedback on the videos (lots of music/outfit love -My Taurus moon was pleased) but also a lot of people saying that they resonated with videos that weren't their sun sign… To which I reply baby… I know!
The most obvious answer to this is to check your sun, moon, rising… your signature sign or where you have a concentration of energy… Which yes… also do these things.
But more than that… and what I really wanted to talk about is that you as a living breathing embodiment of the Cosmos are a combination of Every. Single. Archetype. You’re not restricted to identifying with the signs that are most dominant in your birth chart. These are universal archetypes of humanity that each of us are made up of. Obviously you don’t have to have a Cancer sun to be a mum… or a Scorpio moon to be sexy. As we grow through our lives there are times where we embody all these archetypes because… even if we don’t have any personal planets in our natal charts ruled by these signs each sign rules one of our 12 houses. To summarise, the energy of every single archetype is within you; it's just about finding your way to access them.
In my opinion… the most exciting realisation I’ve had in this field was drawing parallels between the order of the archetypes and how they mirror human development.
Birth - Aries: Pioneering life, realisation of self and having a body. Fighting to be alive.
Baby - Taurus: Awareness of self and others, craving safety, craving love. Realisations of what feels nice and not nice.
Toddler - Gemini: Explorative, excited, chatterbox, desire to learn and play and experiment. Needing stimulation.
Preschool age- Cancer: Starting to become aware of the emotions and needs of others. Developing their role as comforters and nurturers to their friends or younger siblings. Realising the importance of home and family.
Early childhood - Leo: Building an individual identity, growing awareness of how you are being perceived by others, defining who you are and how you are received. Exploring play and creativity, the birth of the ego.
Late Childhood - Virgo: Little analysers trying to understand the intricacies of the adult world. Introduction of more responsibility for their own lives, timetable, health and wellness. Understanding personal structure balancing your own academic, personal, sporting, musical and family commitments. Learning how to listen to their own body cues, hunger, sleep etc.
Tweens to early teens - Libra: The strive for balance, divine partnership, the coupling up of ‘best friends’ trying to balance who they were and what they loved as children to who they are becoming as teens. Polarity starts emerging, masculine and femine, school life and home life, friends and family, friends and potential love interests. Realisation of justice and fairness. The desire to belong.
Early to mid teens - Scorpio: Moody, angsty “Nobody understands me” emo phase. Stubborn, not listening to authority, awakening of overwhelming sexual energy.
Mid to late teens - Sagittarius: Excited about the prospects of freedom after school, starting to think about traveling or what they might want to pursue in higher education, also getting excited to go partying on the weekends.
Last year of school - Capricorn: The discipline and dedication to follow the rules and just get what you need to get done to get to where you need to go. Heads down, goal oriented.
First year out of school -Aquarius: Joining all the clubs and attending all the protests. Disattaching from the societal norms and reflecting on the conditioning you grew up with. Truly learning how to step into your authentic self, experimenting.
Sometime following the revolutionary phase - Pisces: In America they have a term for this, they call it “The Sophomore Slump” which refers to a time of disillusionment following school leaving. Sensitivities rise, moods get a bit shocked, depression can often set in. It’s a time where escapism goes wayyy up, be it in the form of extra netflix, drugs or alcohol. People often find their way back to religion or spirituality. It’s hard… but it’s also the realisation of how powerful you are in pulling yourself out of the dark.
And then, we’re back in Aries: Hustling. Striving to get that job, putting our energy into being the best possible applicant, pioneering the next phase of our lives through pure determination and drive.
A very rough example… but you get what I’m saying. At different times in our lives we’ve had to be all of these things. Depression isn’t scanning your chart saying “Nope, no planets in Pisces, move on to the next guy”. Or “No planets in Capricorn? You’re dreaming if you think she has any leadership capabilities.”
The placement of the planets in our chart gives us an indication on themes that are most poignant in our life but it’s not the whole story and it doesn’t give us a free ride to not work on ourselves and progress as individuals.
For example, I only have one out of thirteen planets in the element of fire... and it’s Pluto (which stays in a sign for an entire generation, unlike the sun which moves signs every month, or the moon moving signs every few days, mercury every couple of weeks, rising sign every couple of hours… you get it...), I remember having this conversation with a couple of my friends once and they both laughed because… I do not strike most people as someone with no fire. I’m very passionate, very sexual, I’ve got a temper, high standards and I don’t shy away from attention. But the thing with astrology is… it’s all about seasons. For me, the most beautiful thing about astrology is the constant reminder that we are part of nature. I can feel when Mercury switches signs as my thoughts switch pace. We’re multifaceted individuals born with the Aries drive of the first rush of spring, the Gemini curiosity to expand and learn, the Capricorn strive for purpose and a Pisces depth for healing and transmuting pain. The archetypes offer us facets of ourselves that we are free to eb and flow in and out of, while respecting who we are at our core. Sometimes we want to embody the lion within all of us, wanting to spread love and soak up all the attention like a true Leo. Sometimes, we want to embody our inner Goddess, we want to feed our lover organic raw vegan gluten free cake from ingredients foraged from our yard while they kiss every inch of our bodies through mouthfuls in pure Taurean delight. Some days we want to adorn thigh high boots, black lingerie and nothing else. We want to start a fight, scream into our pillow and get drunk on whiskey and grunge music and angry memories through Scorpio intensity. Some Days we can’t stand the conflict in the world and we just want to help everyone. We get overwhelmed by the lack of compassion and don’t understand why we can’t all just be a little bit more tolerant and kind to one another. We wonder what life would be like if we shared every day with someone who truly loved us and understood us, some days… We crave libra ideals.
So… Here's the thing… Even though I don’t have any planets in fire, I still have access to the fire within, and I’ve learnt how to cultivate my fire through incorporating fiery activities into my routine, be it intense movement or radical self expression, playing dress ups or seducing myself in the mirror.
The archetypes of your sun, moon and rising give an indication of the personality you came into in this life… but it’s not who you are. You are who you are, and you are a combination of everything you can imagine. Everything you can see, you can become, everything you can imagine is available for you… you just need to know how to look for it.
