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Bio: Trish MacGregor

Trish MacGregor is the author of 20 thrillers and five nonfiction books. Her most recent astrology book is "Your Cosmic Kids: Using Astrology to Understand Your Children."

Her e-mail address is: trmacgregor@worldnet.att.net

Click to order the book:
Your Cosmic Kids:
Using Astrology to Understand Your Children

Is your Aries toddler running the neighborhood? Is your Sagittarian second-grader rounding up the stray cats on your block and bringing them home? Has your Aquarian teenager started a donation program for the homeless in your town?

As a parent, you undoubtedly recognized your child's uniqueness at a very young age. Perhaps your child spoke before her first birthday or didn't speak until she was four. Maybe your son or daughter skipped the crawling stage altogether and went straight from the crib to an upright walk. Perhaps your four-year-old daughter is painting like Van Gogh or playing the piano like Mozart. Maybe your son has a magical way with animals.

Your child's uniqueness, however it shows up, is apparent in her birth chart, as a pattern depicted by a particular arrangement of planets.

Your Aries toddler, for instance, may have his Moon in Cancer, which makes him fiercely attached to his home, his neighborhood, his turf. Your Sagittarian second-grader may have her Moon in Pisces, which fills her with compassion for strays and outcasts of any species. And if your humanitarian Aquarian has her Moon in Leo, it might explain why her donation program for the homeless hit the front page of your local newspaper.

While the Sun represents your child's overall personality, his ego, his outer radiance, the Moon symbolizes his emotions. It describes his emotional temperament, how he acts and reacts emotionally, what kind of relationship he has with his mother. It also provides hints about his early childhood, his domestic situation later in life, and even the state of his health and the kind of work at which he may excel.

The sign of your child's Moon gives you, as a parent, insight into his inner world, into what makes him tick. The Sun/Moon combination is key to understanding how you might guide your child towards his greatest fulfillment. When these combinations are coupled with your child's rising sign or Ascendant, you have a powerful and insightful tool for understanding your child.

I started working with children's charts because of my daughter. Since the time she was very young, I noticed definite patterns in her friendships, so I began collecting birth information on her playmates and gradually expanded by database to include classmates, teachers, and significant others in her life. The picture that emerged deepened my appreciation of astrology as a tool for depicting broad personality patterns in children and for understanding their spiritual needs, what I call the "cosmic kid."

So let's take a look at the sun signs from a cosmic slant.

The Cosmic Aries

Be prepared to provide concrete answers to the many questions your Aries is certain to ask about spiritual issues. For some Aries kids, these questions begin as soon as they can verbalize what they feel and are couched in simplistic terms: What is God? What are angels? What are spirits? Do trees have spirits? Where do pets go when they die?

Regardless of the age, however, the Aries approach to spirituality is likely to entail a sampling of many different belief systems and creeds, from the totally nontraditional to the very traditional. One month he's into paganism and the next, he's discovered Catholicism. He dabbles. In this way, his restless mentality picks and chooses what suits him - a little of this, a little of that.

The secret with the Aries child lies in not denying him exposure to a particular spiritual belief system because you don't agree with it. All this does is fuel the Aries need to know and creates a seductive mystique about what is denied.

The inspiration and creativity of this sign is best served by open discussion and honesty concerning all things, but spiritual issues in particular. If your Aries, for instance, recalls his dreams and nightmares, don't shrug off his need to talk about them or tell him they're "just dreams." Question him, ask what frightened him or made him feel good about the dream. If he tells you about another life he lived, encourage him to share the details. Suggest that he draw or write a story about that life.

Your Aries is first and foremost an explorer and some of his explorations take place in inner realms. By encouraging him to share these sacred journeys, you establish an irreparable bond and rapport that will endure through rougher times.

The Cosmic Taurus

For the Taurus child, the cosmic stuff often happens under the surface, in private, out of sight. You may never hear about it or you may stumble across this side of your Taurus quite by accident, as Jessie's grandmother did.

If your Taurus does open up to you about her cosmic musings, encourage her to talk, to ask questions. Answer her questions honestly. Bring her books to read on the subject or take her on a canoeing or hiking trip where your solitude together encourages discussion.

A Taurus child's approach to spiritual issues is usually practical and grounded. She may initially enjoy the ritual of organized religion, the commitment to a particular faith or practice. It provides her with the fundamentals, with a basis for comparison. But don't be surprised if she strikes out on her own spiritual exploration once she's old enough to think for herself.

The Taurus child's spiritual pursuits may be found most intimately through nature, particularly if she's made aware at a young age that all life is connected. She feels this most deeply when she's out in nature, doing whatever she loves best, whether it's rock climbing or merely walking. A park will do just as nicely as the real woods and if neither of those is available, then a lush summer garden would be okay, too.

The most important thing to remember with a Taurus child is that her opinions are formed early on and she won't change them without a fight. If you try to push her into a particular spiritual niche, if you force feed her, she simply shuts you out. But work with her, meet her at least halfway, and your own spiritual path will be enriched beyond measure.

The Cosmic Gemini

There's no telling where a Gemini may ultimately take cosmic issues. He certainly mulls them over, however, and does his research.

He may, for example, conduct an extensive analysis of the similarities and differences in the world's spiritual beliefs, absorbing every nuance but never incorporating any particular spiritual practice into his life. He may sample various religions and practices before he finds what suits him. He may follow an organized religion, become a shaman or a Wiccan. He may not find any spiritual belief. But the bottom line for your Gemini is that he usually explores his options.

Thanks to the versatility of the sign, Geminis can live a long time with a contradiction in their core beliefs. But at some point, it may begin to catch up with them. The animal lover, for instance, may find he can no longer stomach meat, so he becomes a vegetarian. The smoker can't reconcile his environmental concerns with his habit, so he quits.

At the heart of such drastic reversals lies your Gemini child's greatest strength: his intellect. It's his filter, the lens through which he perceives and understands the world. It's his vehicle of evolution and transformation.

The Cosmic Cancer

The cosmic connection for a Cancer occurs through the tribal mind. It begins in childhood with her family and gradually expands to include her immediate community, the society in which she lives, and quite often her country as well. It is through this tribal association that she expresses her spirituality.

She's the type who may start a food drive for the homeless in her community. She may be an animal rights activist or involved in political issues that directly reflect her nurturing qualities.

Cancer pursues her spiritual beliefs wholeheartedly, regardless of what they are. If she attends a particular church, then she's as dedicated to it as she is to her family. If her beliefs are nontraditional, then she explores them in depth, through books, workshops, seminars. Her natural intuition flourishes and deepens once she realizes that her emotions are her conduit to spiritual evolution and transformation.

In the next installments, we'll cover the cosmic kid from Cancer to Pisces.

© Copyright: Trish MacGregor

Other articles by Trish MacGregor

MacGregor, TrishUsing Astrology to Understand Your Children - Part II

MacGregor, TrishInterview With Trish MacGregor - Part I

MacGregor, TrishInterview With Trish MacGregor - Part II