You’re More Than One Label
Astrology, Typing Systems, and the Parts of You You Still Haven’t Met
Today I want to talk about something subtle but powerful:
The way we see ourselves shapes the way we live.
How we describe ourselves…
How we classify ourselves…
How we explain ourselves to other people…
All of that quietly influences:
The opportunities we think we’re “allowed” to pursue
The emotions we let ourselves feel
The risks we take (or don’t)
The kind of career and lifestyle we believe are possible for us
And a big part of that has to do with the systems we use to understand ourselves.
The Systems We Use to Define Ourselves
There are so many frameworks out there trying to help us “figure ourselves out”:
Psychological / corporate-ish tools
Myers–Briggs (MBTI)
StrengthsFinder
Enneagram
Spiritual / mystical tools
Astrology
Numerology
Human Design
…and so many more
Most of these systems are created with good intentions:
to help us see what’s right in front of us, but hard to admit…
or invisible to us because it’s so deeply ingrained.
They can be incredibly helpful when we’re:
Peeling back layers of family expectations
Challenging cultural norms we inherited
Trying to build a career and lifestyle that actually feels like us
But they’re also filters.
They’re not neutral.
They’re shaped by culture, language, history, bias, and marketing.
And that matters.
A Quick Note on Astrology (and What I Don’t Use It For)
Before I jump into my own chart story, a few clarifications:
I see astrology as a kind of spiritual science of the sky
It uses real data (where planets actually are) and symbolic interpretation
I use it as a tool for self-knowledge, healing, and context
What I don’t use it for:
Predicting guaranteed futures
Treating horoscopes like fixed destiny
Outsourcing my agency to a chart
I’m much more interested in:
“What is true right now about how I’m wired, what I’m feeling, and what I’m carrying… so I can make conscious choices?”
If we’re always chasing “What will happen?”
we miss the more important question:
“Who am I being… right now?”
Tropical vs Sidereal: Two Different Lenses on the Same Sky
Here’s where it gets juicy.
There isn’t just one astrology.
There are multiple systems that use the same sky, same planets, same signs… but measure and interpret them differently.
Tropical Astrology (Western)
Predominant in North America & Europe
Divides the sky into 12 equal slices (like a clock)
Tied to the Western calendar and seasons
Prioritizes symbolic symmetry
This is the version most of us meet first:
“I’m a Cancer”
“I’m a Leo rising”
“I’m a Taurus Moon”
Sidereal / Vedic Astrology
Used widely in India and much of South Asia
Also uses 12 (sometimes 13) signs, but…
Measures the sky based on actual astronomical positions
Accounts for the Earth’s gradual tilt and precession over time
Prioritizes astronomical accuracy over perfect symmetry
Because the Earth slowly shifts, sidereal astrology adjusts; tropical does not.
So when you cast a sidereal chart, often your planets “move back” about one sign.
Same sky.
Different measuring stick.
Different emphasis.
Different lens.
Neither is “wrong.”
They just answer slightly different questions.
My “Oh Wait… I’m a Gemini?” Moment
For decades, with tropical astrology, I understood myself as:
Cancer Sun – sensitive, nurturing, home-and-heart focused
Taurus Moon – steady, earthy, comfort-seeking
Sagittarius Rising – philosophical, adventurous, big-picture explorer
That lens helped me a lot.
It gave language to my values, my emotional world, my curiosity.
But…
There was always this quiet sense of:
“This fits… but not completely. Something’s missing.”
I knew there were parts of me that felt sharper, more intense, more restless, more mental, more fiery than that combination fully captured.
I’d known about sidereal / Vedic astrology for years but honestly?
I kept it at arm’s length.
It felt like “a whole other thing” I didn’t have capacity for
I already had a comfortable narrative about who I was
I didn’t feel the need to complicate it
Until this year.
Things kept circling back—Vedic discussions, sidereal charts, conversations—and I finally sat down and calculated mine.
Here’s what came up in sidereal:
Gemini Sun
Aries Moon
Scorpio Rising
My first reaction?
“Excuse me… I’m what now?” 😅
And also… ouch.
Because if I’m honest:
I had lowkey judged Gemini energy for years.
I’d had a rough relationship experience with a Gemini
I’d seen Geminis in my life act in ways that felt scattered, unkind, or out of integrity
I’d unconsciously built up a story: “Gemini = untrustworthy, flaky, not deep”
So to suddenly see “Gemini Sun” on my own chart was humbling.
It forced me to confront something I didn’t realize I was doing:
I had been bad-mouthing and rejecting an energy that also lives in me.
And when I got over the initial shock…
I started seeing it:
My curious, multi-threaded mind
My love of gathering and sharing information
The way I talk, teach, and connect ideas
The playful, dual nature that doesn’t fit in a single box
It wasn’t that my Cancer/Taurus/Sag story was wrong.
It just wasn’t complete.
Sidereal gave language to other parts that had been hiding in plain sight.
How Trauma, Culture, and Marketing Make Us Reject Ourselves
This is where it moves beyond charts.
Using my own story as an example:
I had a painful experience with a Gemini person
I generalized their behavior to the whole sign
I decided, “Gemini energy is bad / shallow / unsafe”
Meanwhile, part of my own wiring has Gemini flavors
So without realizing it, I was:
Rejecting that energy in other people
Silencing it in myself
Not giving it healthy ways to express
Astrology just gave me a mirror, but this can happen with any system:
Maybe your MBTI says you’re an introvert, so you dismiss your social side
Or a StrengthsFinder result makes you downplay your creativity
Or your Enneagram type becomes a box you never question
And on top of that:
Culture tells you what’s “professional”
Family tells you what’s “acceptable”
Society tells you what’s “successful”
So you might:
Over-identify with certain labels (“I’m the responsible one,” “I’m the creative one,” “I’m the burnout-prone empath”)
Disown other parts that don’t feel safe or allowed
All while there’s this huge, beautiful iceberg of self under the surface that you haven’t met yet.
You Are the Iceberg, Not Just the Tip
I love the iceberg image for this:
Above the water: the part of you everyone sees
Below the water: the roots, weight, history, potential, patterns
Same with a tree:
We see the trunk, branches, leaves
We don’t see the massive root system that had to grow first
Our identities work like that.
Most of us spend our lives:
Managing the visible parts
Curating the upper half of the iceberg
Tweaking the branches
But the truth is:
There are strengths you haven’t claimed yet
There is grief or trauma you haven’t processed yet
There are desires and capacities you haven’t named yet
And that “missing key” you keep feeling in your:
Career
Relationships
Creative work
Spiritual life
…might be somewhere down there, waiting for light.
How to Work With These Systems Without Letting Them Own You
A few grounding reminders:
All systems are tools, not verdicts.
Astrology, MBTI, Enneagram, Human Design, numerology—none of them get to tell you what you must be. They’re lenses, not prison cells.You’re allowed to resonate partially.
You might connect with 80% of a description and toss the rest. That doesn’t make you “wrong.” It means you’re a real, layered person—not a template.You get to choose what you want to work with.
When I saw “Gemini Sun, Aries Moon, Scorpio Rising,” it didn’t mean I had to become some caricature. It meant I had new energies I could explore, heal, and integrate—if I wanted to.You are always evolving.
The “you” who took a test at 22 is not the “you” listening to this now. Labels that helped you survive then might be too tight now.Use the tool to deepen self-connection, not self-judgment.
If a system makes you feel more boxed in, ashamed, or stuck, pause. The goal is more compassion, more understanding, more permission—not more policing.
If Something Feels “Almost Right” in Your Life…
If you’re feeling:
“My career kind of fits, but…”
“This version of ‘me’ that everyone knows is close, but not the whole story…”
“The frameworks I’ve used to understand myself feel incomplete…”
That doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It might mean:
There’s a part of you still underground
There’s a perspective you haven’t tried yet
There’s a tool or modality that might open a new door
For me, sidereal astrology happened to be one of those doors.
For you, it might be something else entirely.
The point isn’t “go calculate your Vedic chart right now.”
The point is:
There is more of you than you currently have language for.
And meeting those unseen parts might be exactly what your career, body, heart, or spirit have been asking for.
If this stirred something in you—curiosity, resistance, a little “oh no, now I have to meet more of myself” laugh—good. That’s usually where the real work begins.
Until next time,
be well, be gentle with your many layers, and remember: you are always more than one label. 🌗
