This material is copyrighted by M. Kirby Moore. Please do not reproduce anything here without the author’s explicit permission. You can see more of what Kirby offers by going to www.traumainformedastrology.com or www.mkirbymoore.com There you can book astrology, distance somatic process or bodywork sessions. Thank you for visiting!
Hello Dear Ones,
I am writing this post because I have been loving the Trauma-Informed Astrology (T.I.A.) sessions I am offering to clients recently.
I created TIA two years ago, after pondering and “chewing on” the idea for the previous year or two. I have been studying Western Astrology since 2003 – and then in 2005 I started casting charts and asking for a small donation. And since then, I have now done at least 750 charts if not more. One question that kept bugging me however, is that Western Astrology in its “pure” form is primarily a divination tool. It will answer questions like “What energy is arising?” And “when might this energy manifest?” and it may possibly answer the “Why” questions as well. But it does not answer the “Now that I know the What and the When, how do I fix it? How do I prevent challenging situations? How do I repair what the chart is indicating?”
I began to study and practice Craniosacral Therapy in 2005. I love how this modality helps us to connect with deeper healing rhythms and also helps us to come down out of our heads. Then in 2012, I began studying Polyvagal Theory and techniques to work with the Polyvagal System. In 2013, I was fortunate to meet Myrna Martin and I began studying Birth Process work (Pre- and Perinatal Psychology). And most recently, I completed my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner certificate after four years of studying and practicing that awesome modality. I love blending all of these tools with Western Astrology to get a fresh new lens through which to view the horoscope!
Hence my creation of TIA. This modality blends traditional Western Astrology, Spiritual Astrology with wisdom and the scientific backing of Somatic Experiencing, Zapchen Somatics, Polyvagal Theory, Birth Process work and more process-oriented-bodywork techniques. Therefore, we can dredge up some old stuff (only small chunks at a time) about our early history AND have the tools to be able to resource, repair and work through it!
In Chinese Medicine, there is the belief that many diseases (80% or so) are rooted in emotional causes. In other words, stuck emotions and stuck energy contribute to our dis-ease. If this is true, then all we have to do is learn to liberate this stuck energy, and we can benefit the majority of diseases out there. Obviously, work with a licensed health care provider if you think you have a significant health issue! But, if you go to multiple specialists and doctors and have the tests and scans run, and they don’t know what is happening in you, then it is quite possible that your dis-ease has an emotional root cause. And if this is the case, then it would definitely be worth trying Somatic Experiencing, Trauma-Informed Astrology, Craniosacral Therapy or other efficacious emotional-process-oriented modalities.
Just to be clear, we need to work with a competent practitioner if we think we need to work on early trauma issues. This material is tricky to work on by ourselves, and if it is preverbal (challenging events happened before we were 3 years old), then we literally can’t access it on our own. In other words, lean into support! Get good support from an experienced and skillful guide.
Multiple studies have shown us that unresolved trauma causes emotions to become stuck and rigid. It is almost as if the body (nervous system) is battening down the hatches to prevent further trauma from occurring. Except this causes further loss of connection and difficulties in relationships in addition to other health challenges. In fact, the Adverse Childhood Experience study (ACE study for short) has shown us that having significant unresolved early trauma will lead to adult disease (usually inflammatory issues). Yes, we know that correlation does not equal causation, but this study involved more than 17,000 participants and it is still on-going, 29 years after it first began! And the study’s results and effects have been successfully replicated in further studies by many reputable organizations (like the NIH, Johns Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic and more).
We know that Western Astrology can be a beneficial divination tool – using the astrology chart and knowing a bit about the client’s history, we can make some accurate predictions about how their nervous system is doing today (provided we understand how the autonomic nervous system functions). If we have the knowledge and the skills, we can even make some assumptions about their birth process. We can see where energy or emotions are getting stuck, and we might be able to see why they habitually get stuck. And then using tools from Somatic Experiencing and other Somatic / movement modalities, we can gently and competently guide them toward being with, digesting, processing and integrating those previously overwhelming events.
Some of the benefits of this process include greater awareness, insights into “why I behave the way I do,” and being able to shift and transform stubborn, old, outdated patterns and habits. Sometimes (very often actually) we don’t know the causes of our neurotic behavior or habits. Maybe we are a workaholic and don’t understand why. Maybe we are constantly being an entertainer or performer and we don’t know how to “turn ourselves off.” Perhaps we are a perpetual pleaser / placater / charmer and we are getting tired of always attending to others’ needs, rather than our own. It might be that we have a lot of shame and inner guilt around success or putting ourselves out there. Maybe there are strong ancestral patterns that we struggle to break out of. Sometimes we have the terrible fortune to end up with chronic digestive issues – constipation or diarrhea, etc. There is light at the end of the tunnel however – I have seen many of these issues shift and transform.
Trauma-Informed Astrology can often benefit most of these situations. Working on some of these issues usually requires several sessions (or more – sometimes I work with clients 7 – 10 times for one of these chronic issues), but we can start to bring awareness to these shadowy depths, bring more support to the process, and get movement and transformation going! It is amazing how some of the most stubborn patterns can start to shift when we bring awareness and consciousness to the process. As Julie Henderson, the creator of Zapchen Somatics says, “All things eventually resolve in peace.”
Using TIA, we can be like the wise person – “the wise person controls their stars, it is the fool who obeys them.”
Thank you for reading!
Kirby Moore
BTW – I offer in-person bodywork in the Central Virginia area (USA), and I also offer long-distance Trauma-Informed Astrology sessions, Somatic Experiencing and Embodiment Coaching. Let me know if you are interested (see the links to the sites above).
[Disclaimer: I ask my clients if they have been to the doctor if this is appropriate. If something has an organic cause, we want to go to a medical practitioner to determine that first. Then, if doctors and specialists don’t know the cause or what to do next, at that point Somatic processing, trauma resolution and nervous system repair might be great next steps to take! Trauma Informed Astrology does not claim to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure any diseases.]
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