Can Soul purpose be considered the same as destiny?
In a sense yes, in that we can do very little about it at the personality level, in this lifetime. Our Soul purpose is created by ourselves but was set out in previous lifetimes and is currently unfolding. So in this lifetime we can do little else but align with it and live harmoniously, or try and resist the calling and live unharmoniously! (Even experiencing disharmony may be needed for our Soul’s growth!) In our birth chart the rising sign, or ascendant, indicates our Soul purpose. It is our ‘Soul Sign’.
Understanding, aligning with and expressing our Soul’s Purpose is our Life’s work. Many people fulfil their Soul Purpose without even being aware of it, or necessarily being on a particularly ‘spiritual’ path. Maybe this is what we experience as destiny, when our Soul’s journey appears to be beyond the reach of our individual awareness.
For example The Soul Sign of the USA is Aquarius(1), and the Soul Sign of President Obama is Aquarius. Is it a ‘coincidence’ that the American people chose to elect an Aquarian Soul, to lead a nation (the most influential nation in the world at this time) that also has an Aquarian Group Soul? Especially at this particular point in history when, astrologically, we are entering the Age of Aquarius? Or is it Destiny? Is it an alignment of individual Soul purpose with that of the larger group?
There are examples in every family and community of people living and expressing their Soul purpose without being aware of it. I know a humble, practical, and quite shy businessman who would never consider himself on a spiritual path of any kind. (Nor would he think much of Astrology!) He has Cancer Rising so his Soul purpose is to ‘build a lighted house and dwell therein’. He wouldn’t consider himself a humanitarian, yet his Aquarian sun sign led him into a form of group service. (Humanitarianism and group service are Aquarian values) In building his business, he employed the people closest to him: friends, family, and neighbours, in a small, poor, community with high unemployment.
Although he didn’t set out to ‘be a humanitarian’ his Aquarian approach to business by recruiting from a group that he already belonged to, had unintended humanitarian consequences. There is now a stable core in this community of people with homes, jobs and families. Without his input who knows what could have happened here in a neighbourhood that was deteriorating into unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse? His approach raised the status of a neighbourhood, created a stable framework, created jobs and brought people together with a shared purpose to form a close-knit and supportive community. The fact that this was done in the context of ‘family and neighbours’ is an expression of his Cancer Soul: Cancer is the sign of the home and family. So even though he doesn’t think of it in these terms he is in himself being, and creating, a ‘light’ in his community. His home. Perfectly in alignment with his Soul purpose.
If we can be fulfilling our Soul purpose without being aware, is there any point in learning about our Soul purpose and developing awareness? The answer depends on the stage of our Soul’s development. For some of us, Soul awareness may not be our path in this lifetime, and so we wouldn’t feel drawn to pursue the matter, as in the example of the businessman above. For some the path involves developing conscious awareness of our Soul work and for others this includes a conscious experience of Soul.
It may be true that you are probably fulfilling your destiny anyway, and it may also be part of your Soul work in this lifetime to understand more deeply what that means, and to begin consciously creating your future Soul path. Your future destinies!
_________________________________
Ruth Hadikin is a Soul Path Coach, Author and Soul Astrologer.
Order Your Personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report Today!
This personal report tells you your Soul Sign and Life Purpose, and includes your birth chart, personality planets and tells you about your lunar North Node and what this means for your spiritual development.
Is it your Birthday Month? Check out Ruth’s Birthday Special in association with Life Coaching Magazine.
Did you know… you can click on your sign in the ‘tag cloud’ to the right and be shown a list of all Ruth’s articles about your sign? Good to know! >>>>
DON’T MISS SOUL ASTROLOGY UPDATES!
Click “e-mail subscription” now (top right of this page) to make sure you receive all the latest posts!!
_________________________________
1. According to Esoteric Astrologer Phillip Lindsay: “Esoterically, the USA is an Aquarian soul and a Gemini personality. If an esoteric chart was erected, it would be Aquarius rising with a Gemini Sun in the fifth house.” See http://www.esotericastrologer.org/EAauthorEssays/EAessaysPGL21ObamasDrama.htm
soulastrologer.wordpress.com 
Hi Ruth, it’s difficult to separate out what is a real soul purpose with what we might have as a life purpose for a particular incarnation, they can be different. Although soul ‘purposes’ are important particularly because they tend to act as a background unconscious driving force which can make us feel as if we are ‘not doing something’ if we don’t engage with them. I’ve been working with people to find the causes of the disconnects and to either clear what is responsible for these as well as of in some cases releasing them from these ‘drives’ when the original reasons are no longer valid. The is some expanded info on soul purposes here; http://www.soul-healer.com/what-is-my-soul-purpose-life-purpose/ and information on all the different causes of what I’ve found blocking these in pages after this. Take care.
Hello Clive,
Yes there is definitely a distinction between a Soul Purpose and a Life Purpose. Reading your article, the character attributes you describe, which can be passed on from parents and/or our own past lives, I would think of more as personality attributes which, in Soul Astrology are symbolized by the Sun and Moon, and make up our personality or ego-mind. The collective attributes, learned behaviors, mannerisms, beliefs, values and ideals which we accumulate over many lifetimes form our ‘personality’ but are not our Soul’s essence. For example we all have the same potential for empathy or memory, but some individuals have developed those skills more than others, and so it has become part of their individual personality. This is not Soul.
Our Soul is the pristine Divine essence that pre-existed before all our past life conditioning was laid on top of it. The Soul’s ‘purpose’ therefore is related more to the current stage of our Soul’s development and is not usually something we are consciously aware of. It is not analogous with personality attributes, belief systems, or egoic ideas of ‘utility’.
In “Esoteric Astrology” by Alice Bailey the Soul is described as starting in Aries as a ‘point of light in the mind of God’ and each Zodiac sign describes a different stage in our Soul’s development. You might say it’s ‘purpose’ is ‘to be a point of light’ at this time, however in so being, it serves to function as inspiration and to set the foundation for the next stage in Taurus. So, just as if we were studying stages of fetal development in embryology, while we can see these are obviously not personality attributes such as memory or empathy, there is a spiritual purpose and function.
The drives which you speak of are usually learned behavior and, as such, are part of our egoic mind. As we awaken on our spiritual journey, and begin the process of Soul and personality integration, we begin to recognize a distinction between the two and both our Soul and Life Purposes will become apparent to us.
Hi Ruth, I have read your introduction article and I have read the material at the site mentioned in the coment left by Clive.
What I found interesting was the translation of information to fit in whith what one believes or holds relevent. I often find that as I read through other people mateial I will translate it using my own understanding of what is being said, to take a bias of MY belief, and sometimes I have found on further investigation that I have compleltely misinterpreted what I have read, making it fit with what I feel/believe.
My point is that I am wondering if there isnt something else going on, is there a manipulation of some kind external to the article, authors and readers? Not sure if I have been able to convey what I want mean. Hope it makes some kind of sense.
Hi Trish,
Yes you make sense. However we interpret anything depends upon a number of factors, yes what we believe and hold relevant, also our past experience in this and past lives, and our ‘consciousness’ (that word in itself has many meanings) and/or our capacity for perception – which increases as we grow.
I often use the analogy of a cell in your big toe! It has no awareness that it is a cell within a toe, but if it could expand it’s awareness it would discover that not only is it part of a toe, but it is also part of a much larger body!
So it is with our Spiritual Development at the moment. We are only just waking up.. and we all perceive things differently, depending upon our own capacities and experiences. We don’t even use the same language – one word can have several different meanings across professions and across cultures.
So until we become enlightened like Christ or Buddha who even really knows what our Soul is? We can only have an idea, sense or intuition based on our experiences and perception.
And everybody’s experience is equally valid.
So… I wouldn’t say there is any manipulation, but just that we are all looking at our own piece of the jigsaw puzzle from our own perspective.. and at this point they might look different, but eventually as we evolve the pieces will fit together!
Warmly,
Ruth