Vanessa Couto
Life Purpose Coach & Astrologer
Be you. Do what you love.
Are you ready to reimagine your relationship between being fully yourself, bringing what you love to your work, and weaving it with what gives you a sense of meaning and purpose?
My work is to help folks like you navigate the initiatory intersection of claiming forgotten aspects of themselves while weaving what they love with their sense of purpose to their work and livelihood.
The coaching work involves expanding your perspective on your journey thus far, and helping you find the inner gold buried within while embracing new possibilities.
In these chaotically creative times, life beckons you to be more fully yourself.
It’s time to bring forth the unexpressed aspects of yourself, the inner gifts, while transforming your accumulated experiences, talents, skills, and vulnerabilities into creative medicine for yourself and the world.
Because now more than ever, the world needs CREATION MAKERS.
Folks like yourself who are willing to do the inner healing work of reimagining and transforming perceived limitations into medicine and birth their gifts in the world through their work, business, or creative endeavors.
I work with creatives and mystics who want to find joy, fulfillment, and reconnect their sense of purpose to their work and livelihood.
From a very young age, I was already fascinated by the idea of finding out what my life’s calling and purpose were. Then as a teenager when I got my first job flipping burgers, the desire to align purpose with livelihood took root and blossomed inside of me.
My own story around purpose and livelihood has been about claiming the spokes of my wheel as an artist, astrologer, teacher, and coach and bringing them forth through my work.
But all these titles are just doorways into what I feel is my gift to the world: to help others navigate the intersection of purpose and livelihood through joyful curiosity and a knack for unearthing hidden possibilities.
One of my core beliefs is that our life’s purpose is to be more fully ourselves and not to be someone else.
I’m here to help you uncover and honor the inherent gifts you have inside yourself and express them out into the world via your creativity and/or your livelihood.
As poet Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet wrote: Work is love made visible.
I wholeheartedly believe that one of the ways we express our love for ourselves, others, and the world is through our work.
“I would highly recommend Vanessa’s coaching to anyone seeking solid, grounded guidance. I walked out energized, inspired, and hopeful after each session.
Vanessa’s timely and wise guidance has helped me maintain a balanced perspective of the challenging transitional period I have been navigating for the last couple of years.”
– Y. Basaran
On Life Purpose & Livelihood
At its deepest root, finding your LIFE’S PURPOSE or answering the call of your VOCATION is the synthesis of your LIFE’S WORK, or as the alchemists called: YOUR OPUS.
This OPUS, the great work, is a lifelong process of deepening how you EXPRESS YOURSELF MORE FULLY IN THE WORLD and claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel.
When it comes to PURPOSE and VOCATION, you’re dealing with a summons from deep within, beckoning you to GIVE IT FORM AND LIFE, often through your livelihood.
It’s the realm where you give shape and form to that which wants to be birthed through you via your work and creative endeavors.
The question of purpose and livelihood have deeper repercussions than your individual life because work is the pilgrimage of SELF.
On Life Purpose & Livelihood
At its deepest root, finding your LIFE’S PURPOSE or answering the call of your VOCATION is the synthesis of your LIFE’S WORK, or as the alchemists called: YOUR OPUS.
This OPUS, the great work, is a lifelong process of deepening how you EXPRESS YOURSELF MORE FULLY IN THE WORLD and claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel.
When it comes to PURPOSE and VOCATION, you’re dealing with a summons from deep within, beckoning you to GIVE IT FORM AND LIFE, often through your livelihood.
It’s the realm where you give shape and form to that which wants to be birthed through you via your work and creative endeavors.
The question of purpose and livelihood have deeper repercussions than your individual life because work is the pilgrimage of SELF.
Classes &
Workshops
Deepen your knowledge of Self and your purpose in these changing times.
My classes and workshops are aimed at helping you learn more about yourself, honor the cosmic shifts, and better understand and reimagine how you can better share your gifts with the world during these chaotically creatively and potent times.
Purpose & Livelihood
Coaching
What the world needs from us is that we answer the yearning of our souls and discover what we’re born to BE and DO.
You’re here to fully become who you are, reclaim your unexpressed self, and bring your INNER GOLD to the world.
Claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel with Purpose & Livelihood Coaching.
Intersections
Newsletter
In this monthly missive, we bring you a fresh perspective and reflection points through the lens of astrology, myth, and psyche to help you approach what’s unfolding in your life and the collective.
These explorations are delivered straight to your inbox in the beginning of the month so that you can embrace the month ahead from a broader perspective.
Coaching
& Consulting
What the world needs from us is that we answer the yearning of our souls and discover what we’re born to BE and DO.
You’re here to fully become who you are, reclaim your unexpressed self, and bring your INNER GOLD to the world.
Claim all the spokes of your life’s wheel with Purpose & Livelihood Coaching.
On Liminality
Newsletter
Exploring the landscape between ‘what was‘ and what is ‘yet to be‘ through astrology and storytelling.
In this weekly missive, we bring you a fresh perspective and reflection points through the lens of astrology, myth, and psyche to help you approach the intersection between our collective liminal journey and your transitions.
Plus adding a good dose of insights I see with my coaching clients.
Inspiration & tools to create fulfillment
Working with Vanessa, I not only gained a lot of clarity on the philosophies surrounding the marketing of my business, I also discovered some inspiring things I want to explore outside of business.
I am emerging from our time together with a new inner peace and quiet knowing that I have the inspiration and tools I need to create fulfillment for myself and (hopefully) others.
I would recommend Vanessa to anyone who enjoys visiting things on a deeper and philosophical level, who also enjoys symbolism, mythology and astrology, and who enjoys working on tangents as much as they do the thing they (think) they’re working with her for.
– Tonia Jenny
Creator of Life by Hand – Editor & Designer
Upcoming Classes
& Programs
The Wheel of Myth
& Sound Journeying
As we move towards another year of this ‘Courageous Decade,’ where no hands are spared, and everyone is called to answer to what wants to be expressed through them, it is time to come together through stories – and sound.
The myths are like a territory, a landscape that we can journey through many times, and it’s there that we find new pathways for each of us to discover, reconnect, and reimagine.
Myth acts as a catalyst for something inside us that is ours and awaits expression in the world. Sound journeying is the midwife to this awakening.
When we approach a myth as we would a dream, it can illuminate our lives and purpose in the world.
Join us each month for an evening of astrology, storytelling, and sound bath at Wild Hearts Wellness, PDX.
“Feel good about myself”
I’ve taken virtual classes/workshops with Vanessa, always appreciate
updates on her blog, and now have the privilege of participating in live,
in-person sessions of “The Wheel of Myth & Sound Journeying.”
In the virtual format, Vanessa is wonderfully prepared with
comprehensive scripts and stunning visuals.
You can learn a great deal but also feel like you’ve just spent an hour with a good friend. And her personal warmth and engaging sense of humor are gifts she freely shares at live events.
She makes me feel good about myself and the world,
and I look forward to experiencing whatever she does next!
– Marianne Taylor – participant
The Astrology of the Liminal - Class Series
Archetypal Goddess & the Mythology of Your Life
Business Cosmology & Mastermind
Latest Articles
Lessons learned at the liminal edge of death by Vanessa Couto
A first entrée of reflections on what I learned from being in liminality between life and death.
Read on SubstackWaning towards death ... & rebirth by Vanessa Couto
Liminal times start with releasing the grip and a letting go. It's about a shift of focus towards what matters, which isn't easy for the Ego, who fears the energy it will take to change.
Read on SubstackLiminal Smarts - Don't leave home without it.* by Vanessa Couto
When in times of change and transformation, it's important to find the right type of guidance. The guide you want is one that has liminal smarts.
Read on SubstackLatest Articles
Jupiter Uranus Conjunction – Being Enough
As I write this, Jupiter Uranus conjunction is seconds away
Get practical during the Jupiter Uranus Conjunction
This Saturday, we have the much-awaited Jupiter Uranus conjunction. This
Themes from the Coaching Room
Perfectionism’s Red Shoes Not Enough Dance
“Even when the tears are flowin’ like diamonds on my
People-pleasing is like faking orgasms
Since the Lunar Nodes arrived in Aries and Libra, I’ve
The Sun is Your CEO
Astrology for Business & Branding Astrological archetypes serve as our
On Purpose, Vocation and Livelihood
This article was originally published in the Federation of Australian
An Archetypal Approach to Astrology
From powerless to empowered through your personal myth “As ever
Renewed sense of joy and purpose
I really enjoyed the way Vanessa supported my use of creative practices such as painting, drawing, reflective writing, collage, and movement to take a deeper dive into my beliefs about myself and my relationship with the world.
I found the structure of our weekly meetings was the perfect invitation to become more engaged in the richness of my day-to-day life.
By examining the archetypes and dimensions of experience that have played out over and over, I came away with a greater sense of self-acceptance and a bit more objectivity around my family dynamics that remain so influential in my choices.
Vanessa is incredibly generous with her knowledge and experience.
Every interaction was meaningful and deeply personal. She has a gift for tracking the details, large and small, of a person’s life and masterfully connecting the dots.
Through her approach to coaching, including her deep reflective listening and gentle but firm truth-telling, I found a renewed sense of joy and purpose in my simple life.
If you are open to and curious about the intersection of astrology, mythology, art, play, and humor in your life, this powerful approach to coaching is for you.
– Marta L.
Massage Therapist