Astrology gives us the gift of divine perspective
A glimpse into a higher design of trials, explorations, and lessons all woven together with the purpose of transformation and soul growth as individuals and as a collective.
Witchcraft gives us the gift of tangible divine practice
A way of life that allows us to connect the magick to the mundane, to harness and work with the soul purpose we discover through spiritual exploration.
Astrology + Witchcraft, when practiced together, therefore amplify one another and further expand their potential.
And one of the simplest ways to begin intertwining these together is working with the planetary rulers of the days of the week in your magickal routines and rituals.
Daily cosmic witchcraft can be as simple as inviting the ruler of whatever day it currently is to join in on whatever spiritual practice you're already doing, so don't overthink things! But I also know how fun and helpful it can be to get to know and work with a new spiritual entity on a deeper level, so I wanted to be give us all the opportunity to really explore each of the major planets to encourage your own natural practice to form on its own.
Sunday, ruled by the Sun
Celestial star body of life force, ego, our core essence, guiding truth, illumination, abundance, self-expression, healing, and rejuvenation.
Astro Quick Facts:
Role: Our individual divine purpose in this life
Element: Fire 🜂
Rules/Domicile: Leo ♌🦁
Detriment/Opposite: Aquarius ♒🏺
Generation: Inner/personal placement
Day of the Week: Sunday
Download as a pdf:
Before you began learning about your birth chart, I'd be willing to bet you believed you were one single zodiac sign, and that you determined what zodiac sign that was by the day you were born. You would say, "I'm a Sagittarius." Or a Leo, a Gemini, an Aquarius, etc. And you'd find your horoscope listed in the newspaper, in a magazine, or on the internet. This was all based on one placement in your chart—your Sun sign. And to a certain degree, the horoscopes you'd read or the traits and qualities you'd see listed about yourself would probably feel relatively accurate. And this makes a lot of sense because your Sun sign is a very prominent placement, but those little inaccuracies or the parts that didn't really resonate with you, that's because you, just like your birth chart, are a beautifully complex being with many different parts and pieces within and around your life that all come together to create wonderful, unique You.
Once you do start studying astrology beyond just the Sun sign horoscope, you sort of get wrapped up in all the different layers of your chart. Now you're learning about your Mars placement, your Venus, Mercury, Rising sign and so much more. And over time your Sun can somewhat fade into the distance. This is part of the journey, I believe. Think about the Sun in the sky and in our solar system right now: this steady force we rely on. We know its cycles and patterns rather well, don't we? It's something we can depend on, something that's always there—whether we're paying attention to it or not—giving us life and vitality, and bringing center to all within our solar system.
Let's be honest, in the spiritual and witchy community, which of the luminaries (the sun and the moon) do you see get the most hype? Moon, moon, moon. And listen, I am a moon PERSON, I'm not knocking the moon at all (go back to our Lunar Mondays lesson if you need a reminder), but I do find that because I've had the honor of reconnecting many folx with their Sun placement in their charts and in their spiritual practice, I have a very special appreciation of solar energy (I'm also a Leo Rising, which means my chart ruler IS the Sun). It is very much on purpose that we're finishing up our Daily Cosmic Witchcraft series with Sundays and the Sun because I really do believe this energy—just like sunset and sunrise—in a large sense brings us full circle; closing out what we've done, and prepares us for what we are going to do next.
But what is the meaning of our Sun sign? What role does it play in the chart and in our lives? Well the answer on paper is simple, but the way it plays out in the real world is much more layered. Because our Sun is a Divine guiding light for us, right here, in THIS life.
On Sundays, ask yourself:
How can I be present in my own journey without completely letting go of the wheel?
Vitality. According to Oxford is defined as "the state of being strong and active." With synonyms like liveliness, life, energy, animation, and spirit. A similar definition says "the power giving continuance of life, present in all living things." How very solar, right? Without the Sun being where it is, without its cycles, without its warmth and energy, life doesn't happen. The life on Earth simply wouldn't and couldn't exist the way it does without the delicate balance we maintain in relation to the Sun. And think about the massive ecosystem that is the solar system, the ecosystem within that of our Earth as a whole, and the billions of ecosystems within our Earth—all of these intricate networks that rely on each other to even exist the way that they do. This magnificence is almost too much to hold all at once in our minds, and yet, there it is. Existing in all its glory. You don't even need astrology for that one, it is just the gift of being part of our Universe. And while the Sun in our solar system is one of the approximately 200 billion trillion stars in the Universe, the Sun in astrology represents that vitality, that force of life that exists throughout everything.
Your Purpose. What does that even MEAN?! What is my purpose??? It's quite normal to feel this way, because it would kind of defeat the entire point of this whole Earth School thing if we just knew it through and through all the time no matter what. Those questions like, "who am I really?" and "what am I supposed to be doing??" are such healthy indicators of a working Sun sign. While we live many, many lives as a soul, each one matters, each one has meaning, each one is significant, and it's our Sun's job to give a shit about this life right here, right now, and not get too caught up in the others. I mean, think about it: how distracted would we get if we came into each life remembering all of the others? You might think it'd be a lot easier, but is easy the way we learn? Is easy the way we grow? No, my friend, sorry, but it's not. We don't learn in the easy, we learn in the difficult. So searching for, uncovering, (re)connecting with our purpose in this specific life incarnation is a journey. It's a slew of questions and challenges and victories and losses and changes. It's not about having it figured out from day one, it's about staying on the journey, this journey.
The Ego. Without ego, we don't really care about our purpose. This is a sticky mess of a word in our modern culture, particularly throughout the spiritual community. "Starve the ego! Kill the ego! Release ego!" Well we can't really kill the ego, I mean we can, but it would keep us from any kind of sense of Self. So let's look at another definition. Oxford says, "a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance." Okay, now this is helpful! We can already start to see both the purpose of ego, and also where ego spins out of control. The act of caring about something is vital, if we don't really care about a thing, we won't really do anything about it or with it. The Ego reminds us to care about ourselves, who we are, and what we're doing. But we can also lose ourselves in our own world and shut everything else out. Suddenly the world and the Universe is all happening to us. Our sense of Self can become so inflated that we can't see past the tip of our nose, and this is where the anti-ego rhetoric was born. So in many ways, the attempt to kill the ego comes from very good intentions. It can also lead us into bypassing our own experience and detaching from our individual purpose. And so this is how that delicate ecosystem balance we see through the larger astronomical lens plays out in a micro example—we're not meant to only focus on ourselves, but we're also not meant to totally abandon all sense of Self either.
Rebirth. Our ancient ancestors believed that every night when the Sun set it died, and in the morning it was reborn again. We see this same concept of rebirth in all kinds of areas of the birth chart, along with our Ascendant (rising), our Moon sign, and of course our Sun. One of the ways we can see the journey of rebirth in the chart is in the Day and Night aspects of the chart; the daytime being the entire upper hemisphere of the chart, and the nighttime being the lower hemisphere. The center most horizontal line in the chart represents the horizon, and so during the day the Sun is in the top half, and in the nighttime the Sun is in the bottom half (tip: this is why your location matters so much in astrology, because daytime for you can be nighttime for someone else). Our ancestors learned that just because the Sun goes away every night, it doesn't mean it's gone forever. After the darkness of night the Sun comes up again and brings the light of day. Nowadays, day and night are very different experiences for us than they were our ancestors, but we can take the deeper meaning of this concept and apply it to our lives. No matter how long the night may seem, the day will come again.
Rejuvenation. Just as the Sun can begin and sustain the force of life, it can therefore also rejuvenate it. Have you ever had a plant that wasn't getting enough sunlight? Or maybe you yourself, have you ever experienced too little sunlight? We become depressed, isolated, irritable, unmotivated. We struggle to eat and sleep, we become fatigued and weak. It's why we have to go out of our way to get into the Sun's light during winter or if our job requires we stay inside throughout most of the day. You know how even a 10 min walk outside or even just sitting in the warm light of a window can have a drastic improvement on your mental health? Well, in astrology the Sun placement is also a simple, effective source of rejuvenation, and one that is very easily and commonly overlooked. We scramble through the transits, looking to find what planet is indicating a time of difficulty or struggle, instead of going back to the very basics, and reconnecting with our natural inner source of restoration.
Check your chart:
Beginner:
-Look at the sign your Sun is in.
-What planet rules that sign?
-Your Sun is in _________ and ruled by _________.
Intermediate:
--Look at which house your Sun placement is in.
--What sign rules that house in your chart? --What planet rules that sign?
--The area of life your boundaries and capacities are most centered around is the _________ House, which is in the sign of _________ and ruled by the planet _________.
Advanced:
---Do you have any aspects to your Sun placement in your natal chart?
---Are there any current transits aspecting your natal Sun?
---Is current transiting Sun aspecting any parts of your natal chart?
*Tip: combine this information with the Sun Placement Journal Guide.
^ ^ ^ What To Do With Any or All of the Above:
Ultimately, your intuition is going to be the best guide when nurturing your planetary relationships. I recommend keeping these solar concepts in mind, taking that knowledge into your Sunday, and letting it permeate how you spend your time.
Solar Magick Activities:
Fire - Specifically in the realm of rejuvenation and vitality. I like to use fire-like colors and connect this energy to my solar plexus chakra, and visualize it warming up and revitalizing all centers throughout my body. The Sun as fire energy is sustaining, so eating a warm, nourishing, spicy meal can be one way to envelop yourself in this. Maybe wrapping yourself in a blanket near a fire or candle, or downloading a picture of the Sun in the sky or in outer space on your personal device. Think warmth, renewal, and recharge.
Solar power - This is one you can really get creative with. First, you can utilize the Sun's energy exactly the same way as the Moon's energy, like laying out crystals, tools, objects, or even yourself to absorb the power of the Sun. In addition to clear crystals (some darker crystals can lose their color if put out in direct sunlight), I've made Sun tea, done rituals at high noon when the Sun is directly over head, and meditated in a sunny window. Sometimes I'll purposefully not wear my sunglasses for a little while outside, or I'll set an empty bowl or cup to capture its light. Just layer up with plenty of good quality SPF (and maybe some good winter gear if it's not a summer/spring day), play, and bask. (Note: the Sun's rays are obviously much stronger than the Moon's, in that it can cause damage if something is left there too long. So you may want to shorten the amount of time than if you were bathing in moonlight.)
Seasonal living - Our seasons here on Earth are determined by the angle at which our particular geolocation is in respect to the Sun. Which means things like food, weather, and all kinds of activities are dictated by the Sun. Seasonal living can look like purchasing and cooking in-season foods, dressing for the weather, honoring seasonal holidays or celebrations like the solstices and equinoxes, having a seasonal garden, etc. The key is to anchor into your locality- if you don't already know, research more about the community where you live. Learn about and honor the indigenous or ancient practices of the land, give back to the community by donating money or resources that address some of the unique struggles of where you live, try to cut down on waste, work with plants and flowers that contribute to the ecosystem of your location.
Basic needs & self care - Work with your Sun placement to learn more about the unique ways you can honor and meet your own needs so that you can remain a healthy, functioning individual. Ever come across some self-care tips on social media and thought, wow, none of that sounds like me. Use the characteristics of your Sun sign to customize your own self-care plan. As a Scorpio Sun, curling up with a good horror movie, having a deep conversation with a close friend, or having a good intense session by myself at the gym are all ways I can feel recharged within an hour or two. This is where your Sun Placement Journal Guide can really come in handy! Don't be afraid to step outside of the box of traditional self-care practices.
Fostering independence - Here we can nurture a healthy ego. What are some activities that make you feel like a strong, independent, contributing person in this life? It is ALWAYS okay to ask for help, and what are also some things you usually do with others that you could try on your own? Maybe take yourself out for a meal and a movie, take a solo day trip, call and make an appt for yourself that you've been meaning to, create or update your personal budget plan, tidy up your room or do your laundry, buy yourself some flowers or a new houseplant, learn a life skill on YouTube. Make note of how it feels both mentally and physically to rely on yourself.
Getting in touch with your personal purpose - First, let me say, this isn't a one-and-done kind of activity, just like we talked about earlier in this lesson. Think of this more like something you continue exploring, and also something you'll likely have to continue coming back to regularly. For me, this can look like reading through past journal entries to remember how far I've come and WHY I continue to do the work I do. You can do things like listening to podcasts about things that resonate with you on the deepest level, meditate with your inner child and higher self, sharing a previous experience to help someone else going through something similar, reflect on challenges and hardship you've gotten through and how it's impacted who you are and who you want to continue to be. Think about things that feel motivating, validating, and inspiring for YOU that make you want to share that energy with the world.
To sum up:
Remember as always, there is no wrong way to work with the Sun's magick! I hope this lesson will be an inspiring jumping off point that expands into your own natural relationship with the Sun that evolves and grows over time. Be open, stay curious! It's fun to work closely with a planet or a celestial body, and to see how your unique connection unfolds in your spiritual practice and in your life.
Comment below if this was helpful for you, and any other questions you have about working with the Sun!
Комментарии