Remember those newspaper or magazine horoscopes that you would always read when you were a teenager even though they almost never made any sense for you? There is something about astrology that fascinates so many people, yet there are massive misconceptions about it’s validity because the only exposure many people have had were those 5-line trash newspaper horoscopes. If that’s all you know about it, then it’s perfectly understandable to think that there’s not much value to the use of astrology. But I am here to tell you that there is oh so much more to it, and that yes, it certainly is valid.
I am writing this not to try and prove astrology to ‘non-believers’, or to defend what I know to be true about it, but because I often meet people who are curious but just genuinely don’t know that there is much more to astrology and how it can be used to gain greater self-awareness and offer support and validation to their experiences. That is how it is meant to be used after all—something to aid you in personal development and spiritual growth—not to make any attempt to predict the outcome of your life.
What’s Your Zodiac Sign?
The horoscopes that you may have read in the past were based on a very broad interpretation of just your Sun sign, or your Zodiac sign as you may be more familiar calling it. Most people know what their Sun sign is. If you were born in late March then you say you are an Aries, and if you were born in early October then you are a Libra. That means that you were born during the Aries or Libra season when the Sun was in that portion of the sky. But the Sun isn’t the only thing in the sky!
The Sun does represent a very key piece of you. It represents your sense of self, the way you express in the world, your sense of purpose, and is a part of you that you are consciously developing over time (ideally). But it can’t be looked at all by itself and get an accurate picture of you and all of your complexity. The other planets and their orientation to one another at the time of your birth need to be taken into account as well. While the Sun may have been in Aries when you were born, and you no doubt have some Arian qualities, it’s just as important to know where the Moon was, for instance. The Moon represents a domain that the Sun doesn’t: your emotions, what you need in order to feel safe, and how you nurture yourself and others. And what about Mercury, Venus and Mars? Jupiter and Saturn? What sign was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born? These, and more, are all important and need to be looked at holistically to get a clear picture.
When we take all of the different pieces into account we get what is called a birth chart or a natal chart, which is a snapshot of the sky at the moment of your birth relative to where you were born. It takes into account all the different planets and points and how they were configured to each other at that moment. This creates a fascinating and complex story that will then be played out over the course of your life! How exactly that gets played out is largely up to you, but the energy dynamics are embedded and are described by the ways in which all these planets are configured, each one representing different functions of your psyche.
While one person may resonate really strongly with many qualities they read about a typical Aries, someone else may not at all. Maybe that second person has Saturn configured to the Sun making some of those solar qualities more challenging to express. Or maybe that Sun is in the 12th house giving it a more hidden quality. Or maybe Mars (the ruler of Aries) is in Pisces, a placement that is more likely to bring out a pacifist or spiritual warrior than the more classical fighter/warrior description of Aries.
The Bigger Picture
Have you ever thought about why you were so curious to read those horoscopes even though they usually didn’t resonate? Maybe you’re one of the people who never wanted to admit that you wanted to read your horoscope (that was me) but were secretly fascinated by the idea! It’s because most of us are searching for meaning. For something to make us feel connected to something greater than us. To be seen and understood. For some sign that would let us know that none of this (life) was an accident. These are the greatest gifts of astrology, they just weren’t likely to be found in a generic horoscope in the local paper.
While there are many ways to use astrology destructively, I believe that there are more and more people using it now as a tool for healing and empowerment. My personal style of astrology is about seeing the potentials of your chart and helping you engage more consciously with it. Nothing about it is deterministic or set in stone. You always have free will and the choice to adjust how a particular planet or combination of planets may be expressing in your life. An understanding of your chart is really a deeper understanding of yourself and how you can become a participant in your life, not just a bystander.
Let me just close by saying this: the ancients studied the sky extensively and used it to guide their lives for generations. Literally for thousands of years people have been using the stars to navigate their lives, and the practice of astrology is based on these thousands of years of meticulous observation. As we have shifted into a more mechanistic worldview in the modern era, this sense of a connection to something greater has become less important. Or rather, there’s been an attempt to control and direct this into dogmatic religious practice. As a society we have evolved in many ways and we think we’ve gotten smarter with our technological advancements. Which of course is true! But we’ve also gotten a lot dumber as the ancient wisdom has been dismissed. To quote Smash Mouth (sorry, I grew up in the 90’s), “Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb.” The reason so many people are seeking meaning is because the feeling of an intrinsic connection between all living beings and the cosmos has been ignored in favour of an ego-centric way of living. We are not separate, and astrology can help us come back to this deeper sense of meaning and connection.
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