While it is easy to recognize the symptoms of a physically starving person, the atrophy, fatigue, apathy, and weakness of one who has not had food or has been unable to eat or digest what food they did have for weeks or months, it may be considerably more difficult to recognize or acknowledge a starving soul. There are many among us here, now, incarnated in form who are wasting away spiritually and are in need of guidance, understanding, and most of all…food, in a spiritual sense.
Some Souls may be so disconnected from their own being that they do not know who they are or what they want out of life. They wander from relationship to relationship, job to job, place to place, spiritual camp to spiritual camp, searching…always searching for that one thing that continually escapes them, a sense of their own Self and their place in the world. As the search continues, these Souls may turn to mind-numbing experiences in order not to feel the pain…others become depressed or ill. They may enter counseling or see a doctor, seek out an astrologer or metaphysician, try a variety of healing exercises, get more exercise, practice yoga, go on a pilgrimage…do anything, anything, to ease the pain! While they can obtain some relief for a while, if they haven’t discovered the true source of their problem, the symptoms will gradually return.
The symptoms below will help you to recognize the Starving Soul of yourself or another:
- Never-ending search for your Self
- Ongoing feelings of discontent or worthlessness
- Constant and significant escapism in all of it’s forms. Each Soul will chose a different form of escapism. Drugs, alcohol, sex addiction, food addiction, competitive sports (pushing the body until it becomes a mindless experience), etc
- Trusting the ‘word’ of another, especially a so-called authority figure, over your own knowing and intuition
- Looking for a savior to save you from yourself
- Allowing abuse in your relationships
- A dreaded fear of being alone
- Mindlessly following a set of religious or spiritual beliefs but lack a sense of connection to those beliefs
- Going along with the crowd, sometimes at the expense of your own being
- Jumping from one religion or set of spiritual beliefs to another more than two times in your life
- Extended episodes of depression, lasting more than a year (it is not uncommon or undesirable for us to experience depressive episodes. Melancholy itself can be a symptom of deeper Soul healing taking place).
- Extreme co-dependence in relationships, with lovers, family, and friends
- Lengthy episodes of floating anxiety (no known or obvious source)
- Inability to give or receive sincere compliments or value the source of the compliments given
- Lying, to the Self, to others - about the Self, about others
If one has two or more of the above symptoms, it is likely they are suffering from Soul starvation. The more symptoms, the deeper the gravity of their condition. These Souls are cut off from the bounty of the Universe - the Soul food of Spiritual connectedness - and while this may seem simplistic, the underlying culprit of this starvation is the inability to love. Without love we wither and waste away on a Soul level. When we are starving, we stop evolving, stop manifesting, and have little to share with the world. We are too weak to carry ourselves, let alone others. We have nothing to give.
Giving and receiving love are two aspects of the same Universal flow. If we are unable to receive love from others - including our Self - then we are unable to give love. Another word we can use here is balance…these Souls are out of balance as they have lost touch with the source of all being, Universal Love. They are living their lives from a earth-bound perspective, worshipping material gods, looking for answers in matter, using their bodies as machines, treating Soul-sickness with psychiatric drugs, and cherishing gold but not soil. The definition of love becomes one in which ego’s clash and two beings become financially, emotionally, and often physically dependent on one another. The relationship may be full of fear and lies, denial, repression, anger, jealousy, confinement, and even violence. Yet, sadly, this is what many feel relating is…this is ‘love’ they will say when asked. Love.
Love is a complicated word that is used in a variety of ways, often misinterpreted - as easily as any religious or sacred text! - and occasionally used to imprison another Soul. Love in a spiritual sense is only truly Love if given freely, without expectation, and with sincerity from the heart. It does not ask to be returned but always will be, in some way. Why? Because Love flows through us and returns to us…when one can Love in the spiritual sense, he or she is connected to the source of all being - to the Universe, the Essence, the All that is, God, Goddess - and resonates with Love. To receive Love in return, one does not have to ask to be loved, one simply gives Love to others. One who resonates with Love attracts Love. On another level, it is impossible to love another if we do not love ourselves, because if we Love spiritually, we love everything and everyone. We see the light in the dark and the positive in the worst of experiences. Once we open as a source of Love, as a conduit of Universal Love, we learn to love ourselves intensely and deeply. We recognize our gifts and work to refine our own Soul and our ego’s expressions in order to be of greater service to others. If you do not value yourself, you are not open to Love…you are unable to give or receive Love. You are in starvation mode.
Can we identify a starving soul via the birth chart? Astrologically speaking, there are some prime indicators that can point in that direction but keep in mind that we all have free will and through hard work, we can make the ultimate best of our selves. The more tension in our chart, the greater our potential in life…it is up to each individual how they respond to life situations. We astrologers cannot know just from the chart alone whether or not a soul is starving, but through a brief consultation - sometimes even one email - we can tell how much work one has done with their chart and what level they are manifesting on. Although many may doubt it, email contains an auric signature that can be read by sensitives. Word choice, sentence structure, use of punctuation, the signature…it all becomes relevant. My point here is that we must not make broad-sweeping judgments on a chart without personal contact with the person; therefore, the significators below only serve as a potential, not a reality.
Potential Starving Soul indicators in the natal chart:
- Saturn in tense aspect to Venus - conjunction, square, opposition, semisquare, quincunx. Sometimes a quintile or biquintile may also offer a clue.
- Strong Capricorn in the chart, especially Capricorn Moon or South Node in an earthy house (2, 6, 10). Even more so if in contact with Saturn himself.
- Saturn in the 2nd house with an empty first.
- Neptune Rising or conjunct the ASC or the DSC
- A chart ruled by Neptune, not necessarily the Ascendant ruler, but a strong Neptune that can run away with the chart
- A Saturn - Neptune connection, usually tense. Especially in an earthy house (2, 6, 10).
- Saturn located in a Water sign and/or house (4, 8, 12) and connected to the Sun, Moon, or Ascendant.
- If any of the above is true, you will likely also find Mars in a weak position or sign. Libra and/or Aries may be strong in the chart.
See the following charts below. These are all people I know personally or have worked with in the past, all who are dealing with starvation but are working toward healing and feeding their Souls.. Birth information - other than my own - is withheld to protect privacy.
Once we recognize a starving soul, what can we do to help them (or our Self)? Each individual will need individualized intervention, either through a program or counseling developed by their astrologer, metaphysician, spiritual counselor, priest, rabbi, psychologist (you get the picture) or self-developed. The truth is, we CAN feed our Souls and recover fully…we can step fully and confidently into our own Soul-being and become a source of Love for the Universe. I know this to be true as I was a starving soul for nearly 30 years. I have also watched - and helped - other Souls recover.
Most of us who are starving are carrying heavy karma from past lives and these wounds are re-injured or activated again in our childhood, possibly to reinforce that wound and make the Soul aware of what needs to be done. As we come into incarnation fresh and supposedly ‘wiped clean’ (not all of us are, are we now?), we need to have something to explain to our psychologists and counselors when we are older and seeking help. Something that the general population and logical, scientific minds can understand and make sense of. However, our childhood wounding - which for some is very minor - often does not truly explain the depth and the pain the client is going through and the judgments and advice offered is often given by another starving soul. Therefore, and very unfortunately, keeping it on a ‘this life only’ level does not always work and the Soul comes away from counseling still struggling, still starving. Still searching and needing to heal.
Feeding the Soul & Healing
For some, past life exploration, regression, and healing may be necessary. For others, they may be able to learn to Love on their own. It is not an easy path to take, but surrendering to the dark moods and allowing the Self to fall into the emptiness, that dark zone of healing, can open the doors within and let the poison out. Astrology - the most objective way to learn about the self - can also become an invaluable tool on the path to healing.
The following methods can work for everyone and at least put them on the path toward abundant love and Universal consciousness:
1. Explore your creativity! I can’t state this clearly enough. No matter what it looks like, what you have to say, or who will read it, express yourself! If you need an element of safety and privacy, write in private and keep it hidden. Or paint. Sing. Dance. Whatever calls to you, do it.
2. Practice the 3 N’s - Nurture, Nourish, Negate. Nurture yourself and others when and where you can. Nourish your body with healthy foods and use alternative supplements to fill in any gaps that are not fulfilled through diet. Negate any and all thoughts that creep in that are negative by nature. Replace these thoughts with positive affirmations.
3. Get outside! As often as possible, get outside of your apartments and houses and walk in nature. Explore the world around you. Take trips when possible to places with different vegetation and landscape. Dig in the earth. Plant flowers - nurture and nourish them! Talk to the plants, kiss the earth. Give thanks to the Universe for this wonderful planet.
4. Learn about yourself, your childhood and potentially your past lives. A great tool to use to do this is astrology. But other methods would be to keep a dream journal and a daily journal. Track your growth.
5. Praise yourself every single day. Look in the mirror and say, I love you. If you need to, talk to your inner child and call him or her by name.
6. Practice gratitude and compassion with others. When negative thoughts creep in about others, negate them!
7. Sit in silence and let your thoughts flow. Allow yourself to slip in and out of a meditative state. We all have this ability; it is not anything you must learn.
8. Refuse to escape. When you feel you are preparing for flight, stop and wait. Give yourself one minute to just relax and breathe. Determine what alternative course you could take to confront the issue at hand. If you are dealing with a relationship problem, give your partner the benefit of doubt. Allow yourself to be vulnerable by honestly discussing the problem. If you fear rejection, remember it is another symptom of starvation. You are more likely to be rejected in the end if you abuse drugs, run away from your problems, and refuse to share your inner thoughts and emotions with another.
The road toward healing is rarely a smooth path or a straight lane. You will experience bumps and bruises, regressive states, and obstacles along the way. You will also meet karma and soul mates along the way who will help you to learn your lessons and continue to move forward. These relationships may not be easy, but if you accept their place in your life and strive to learn from a positive perspective, it will get easier.
As the great Mystic Poet Rumi said, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
