The planets in the birth chart represent different functions. They indicate actions and operations. If we consider astrology as a language, the planets are verbs. Each one gives you the key to self-improvement in different areas of life. 

(NOTE: Sun, Moon, and Rising are not planets. Still, I use that term for the sake of simplification.)  

One way to analyze the planets in the birth chart is to consider them as school subjects. You must study and learn them little by little.   

All the planets’ functions, like all school subjects, are different, vital, and can’t be assimilated at the same time. 

You may dislike some of these planets/subjects. Others, instead, may be enjoyable or easy for you to engage with. 

Related: What Is the Natal Chart? Astrology 101

Working with the natal chart will help you integrate the functions of every planet, even those that are challenging. 

You can work with the planets in astrology at any moment in time. However, there are specific periods in life where you can connect with one or the other more seamlessly.  

In this text, I cover the three states of consciousness and their connection with different planets. I do it thanks to the work of Argentinian astrologer Alejandro Lodi. 

This is what you can expect from the post: 

1. The Birth Chart and Its States of Consciousness
2. When Do the States of Consciousness Occur?
   1. 1) Lunar Support
   2. 2) Solar Expression 
   3. 3) Transpersonal Revolution
3. Writing Prompts to Work With the States of Consciousness

The Birth Chart and Its States of Consciousness

In his book Astrología, conciencia y destino. La carta natal y el despliegue del alma, astrologer Alejandro Lodi states that our consciousness goes through three different states. In astrology, these are the three states: 

1. Lunar Support
2. Solar Expression
3. Transpersonal Revolution 

These three states are not successive. They are always present and always latent. 

They DO actualize in a sequence. But it’s not like they emerge, become completed, and then disappear. They come and go depending on your age, soul work, and life circumstances.  

When Do the States of Consciousness Occur?

At your birth, the Lunar Support state comes into prominence. I venture to say that this state is also being gestated while you are in the womb. However, this is my perspective and not something Lodi mentions in his book. 

The Lunar Support period extends up until your teenage years. The Solar Expression state gains traction when you are 14 years old. 

Solar Expression is in full bloom until the first Saturn return in your late twenties. That’s when the Transpersonal Revolution slowly starts to display its powerful energy. 

These are the moments where each state is most active. But you will always experience their influence one way or another.  

You will not fully integrate or transcend one of the states and then go to the next one. That’s not how spirituality works. 

Thinking about the states of consciousness successively is useful for connecting with the planets in astrology in an organized fashion. 

To use the school metaphor again, you can’t enroll in EVERY subject simultaneously. You can’t solve equations if you don’t even know what numbers are. 

By the same token, you can start connecting with the Moon and then get acquainted with the other personal planets. Eventually, if you want to continue your personal development journey, you’ll get to the transpersonal planets. 

I want to reiterate that this “evolution” doesn’t imply disregarding the Moon’s magic in your adult life. The same happens with the planet Saturn. 

You won’t learn all the lessons associated with Saturn during your Saturn return, and then this planet will disappear. You’ll continue carrying the planet Saturn within you, but it won’t always be active. 

While your consciousness changes, it doesn’t leave behind one of the previous states. Instead, it dissolves the exclusive identification with that state. 

Once you embark on the life-affirming journey of astrology, you can’t have a victim mentality. You can’t blame your problems on your Sun sign. Your birth chart is much more than the Sun sign astrology you read in a fashion magazine. 

The changes your consciousness undergoes to grow imply understanding the permanent existence of the three states. They are experiential dimensions that are constantly in dialogue with one another. 

At specific moments in time, you can connect more with one or the other. However, your consciousness wants you to stop identifying with only one dimension for ever and ever. 

Let’s see each one of the states and what planets (or subjects) are linked with them. 

1) Lunar Support

The Lunar Support state is built in the first years of life. It starts when you are born, or you can consider it starts earlier, once you are in the womb. Choose your own adventure. 

This state forms the first images of your identity. Your first sensations are based on assumptions conditioned by the need to rely on others for survival. 

These assumptions are usually offered by the person taking care of you once you are born. For some people, it is their mom, but it could be another caregiver.

The first identifications contain a heavy emotional load. This is why you may still be attached to old patterns in adult life. You may feel like a fragile baby even though you are already in your late twenties or beyond.

Sometimes, you spend years and years in psychological therapy. There, you try to unknot mandates, customs, and fears that you absorbed in the first years of your life. I know I did.  

The Lunar Support is a primal state. Demands, fears, and attachments are part of it. This state enters into crisis mode when you are a teenager. The crisis usually happens at 14 years old or even slightly earlier. 

In your teen years, you start noting the flaws in your upbringing. You want to separate from your family of origin to build a new and fresh identity. This is when the Solar Expression takes the wheel. 

Related: Saturn’s Transits at 7, 14, 21, and 28 Years Old

2) Solar Expression 

When you are a teenager, your consciousness expands. It no longer identifies itself with the Lunar Support phase. 

I consider that the Solar Expression state begins when you are 14. At that time, the transiting Saturn opposes your natal Saturn. 

This graphic may help you understand Saturn’s transits every 7 years: 

 I like to draw the line at 14, but the mark is not that rigid. Some pre-teens are already experiencing the desire to rebel against their parents or the people raising them. 

Even though the past offers features that make you feel safe and stable, it can also inhibit your potential. So, you want to develop a personal identity that works as a platform to actualize your ideals. 

The Solar Expression state is characterized by the search for authenticity. It’s also connected with the need to have achievements and success. In the best-case scenario, you define what you want and go for it. 

In your birth chart, the Solar Expression is not only represented by the Sun. The personal planets also contribute to it. The personal planets are: 

• Mercury
• Venus
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn

According to Lodi, Jupiter and Saturn are the bridge between the Solar Expression and the Transpersonal Revolution. 

The first Saturn return is one of the life transitions that will drive you to connect with the Transpersonal Revolution.  

3) Transpersonal Revolution

The Transpersonal Revolution starts to emerge after the first Saturn return. In this state, your consciousness will expand even further. You’ll accept that your life is part of a much bigger order that contains and transcends it. 

You’ll perceive life transitions and their challenges as experiences you must endure to become stronger and wiser. You’ll accept that some mysteries are impossible to decode, and you just need to have faith in the unknown. 

Jupiter and Saturn are the planets regulating the expansion towards the Transpersonal Revolution. They act as hinges that articulate your personal life with something that goes beyond it, that transcends it. 

According to Lodi, these are the planets and astrology points connected with the Transpersonal Revolution: 

• Chiron
• Pluto
• Neptune
• Uranus
• North Node
• Rising sign

Once again, I reiterate that these states are not successive. They are everywhere, all at once, at the same time. 

But, again, there are some moments when you will be more in touch with one of these states. During those times, you’ll integrate some lessons, and then you’ll focus on others. 

Ready to start working with the different states? Keep reading to find some writing prompts about this topic. 

Writing Prompts to Work With the States of Consciousness

Grab a pen, your Saturn Return Journal, and your birth chart. Then get to it: 

1. Look for your Moon in your natal chart. Then write this down: 

-Sign of my Moon: 

-House of my Moon: 

-Aspects that my Moon makes to other planets in the chart: 

2. Look for your Sun in your natal chart. Do the same as you did for your Moon. 
3. Look for your Rising. For this one, just write its sign and aspects. 

These answers will become handy in the future. 

Thanks for being here, and until next time!