Young Writers Society

A while ago now, I was having a casual chat with a fellow YWSer when the subject of astrology arose. Surprisingly, this YWSer seemed eager to learn more about the subject, and so while explaining some of the details I realised just how much goes into the idea of star signs (the zodiac) – and how little most people know about it.

Regardless of whether you "believe" in astrology or not, it can be a fascinating subject, and can be viewed in a similar way to how many view mythology (if that's the lens you choose). You don't need to believe in something to learn more about it, and there is a lot to miss out on by letting scepticism stop you. Less ignorance is always a good thing, I find. Plus astrology can just be a lot of heckin' good fun. :3

Both my parents were into astrology for most of their life, and so a lot of that astrology knowledge rubbed off on me. I'm not a complete believer or expert of astrology, however I do find it cool to use as a guide (or at the very least a point in the right direction), sort of like the Myers–Briggs (MBTI) classification and Keirsey temperament sorter. (My MBTI is INFJ, by the way). If you want to know your MBTI, you can take the 16 Personalities test here.

In this thread I'll be explaining the significant nuts, bolts, and gears of astrology, and how they influence each other. But first, let's get some important basics out of the way:

• You are not just your star/zodiac sign. Often people say, "My sign is Aries, but I'm not at all hotheaded or energetic, so all that astrology stuff is nonsense." This is not me dissing that opinion, but rather presenting more information. Your star/zodiac sign is where the Sun (yes, the real Sun in the sky) was positioned at the exact moment and location of your birth. Your Sun sign makes up one aspect of you, however there is every other planet and positioning to consider. This means that you would have other planets for other aspects of yourself that would contradict or compliment that Sun sign's influence on your personality. From an astrological perspective, you are not purely your star sign, but you are your birth chart.
• Your birth chart or horoscope is a "map" of where all the planets etc. were positioned at the time and place of your birth. They can look like this:
  
  
  
• If you ever encounter the mystical breed of astrology-savvy humans, they might ask what your main three signs are. These signs are your Sun sign, your Moon sign, and your Rising/Ascendent sign. This triad is meant to give someone an "overview" of the type of person you could be. I have an Aquarius Sun, Taurus Moon, and Virgo Rising. I'll go into these in greater detail later on.
• There are 12 signs, 12 houses, and 10-ish astrological planets. These (signs, houses, planets) are the three main elements of astrology.
• The astrology column in magazines is almost always garbage. I think that much is obvious.
• I prefer to use the term "star sign" instead of "zodiac" as the common name for the Sun sign, since I find the word zodiac can be mistaken for the Chinese Zodiac Animals – which is something else entirely. I'll be using "star sign" solely from now on in this regard.

Stay tuned for more detailed info~

(People who might appreciate this: @TinkerTwaggy @LakeOfCancer @Magestorrow? Also, I have a hunch that @AstralHunter might be interested from chancing upon his profile )

Comments and questions are allowed in this thread.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YASSSSSSSSSSSSS I've been waiting for this for so long but no one seems to like this sort of thing. I am a Cancer, that's all I know.

@Coffeeism ...You know you can publically refer to me and my child-like hyped curiosity by name, right? XD But hey, didn't expect ya to make a topic out of this wonderful talk, m'dear! That's quite the pleasant surprise - and a fun read to go back to, whenever I'm done!

@TinkerTwaggy Pssh d:
Neither did I until yesterday

Thanks for the tag, Coffee! I am indeed interested, and while I have a fundamental understanding of how astrology works, I didn't have as much exposure to it as you did. I'd love to read anything you have to say on the topic! (I used a site to work out my birthchart for me sometime last year, so I should maybe go revisit that.)

Hey, this is great idea, I'd love to learn more! I know bits and bobs from my Dad's interest in this kind of esoteric stuff, but he's told me more about the history of astrology, what the Bablyonians originally used it for and how it got picked up and altered by the Greeks and other cultures and how it got added to and changed until it became what it is today, which is really interesting, but hard to remember when I don't know what the things he's talking about actually are... I'm interested in learning more about the houses and what they mean, because there are 12 houses and 12 signs, but they don't correspond, do they?

I think this topic is very interesting, but also challenging, because every astrologer has their own way of seeing how it happens. For me, at least, everything is very abstract, and there is no security. But spiritually, it's very interesting. I like to always read information about the Zodiac or horoscope. I found a very interesting forum where horoscope, zodiac, astrology are very well explained. I learned a lot from this forum https://www.zodiacsigns-horoscope.com/angel-numbers/angel-number-666-meaning%20/ which I recommend to those who are interested in this field.

Sometimes the above question is formulated very incorrectly, to the extent: to what time can we trust that what people tell us is true? The mistake comes from the fact that many reduce the results of interview research to a simple summary of the interviews. Otherwise, the data may be distorted, manipulated by the questions asked, and the conclusions drawn will be false. And further, the change measures taken will lead to undesirable results! I don't know how to ask a question and make sense of https://astralplane.com/is-astral-projection-demonic/.

responding to the comments here asfdgh

@paperforest That's really cool that you were able to learn about the history of astrology from your dad! c: And the 12 houses and the 12 signs do actually correspond~ The star signs have a certain order usually given to them (starting with Aries and ending in Pisces), and the 12 houses match up with the signs based on this order.

(Actually,,,, >.> there’s a fair amount of similarity like this between the planets, signs, and houses, which is super convenient for getting a grasp on the whole topic)


@Sidiusss It's really nice to read your thoughts about astrology! And I'd agree that astrology can be difficult to find a single perspective in, similar to how the words and passages of religious texts are interpreted by different people across cultures and languages - but I personally think this is what makes astrology so rich and reflective of what understanding the self is about.

There's always a constant theme of what each placement in an astrology chart means, but within that is the flexibility to include all perspectives on it. I personally don't feel that a person can be defined by one perspective or interpretation, being as unique, fluid, and multi-dimensional as each person is, so I find it useful that there are different interpretations. However it's super valid that you're not so into the abstract nature of this, and I wouldn't expect everyone to be into it. Thanks again for giving your thoughts :) - and I wish I could access that link you gave!


@anthocleod This thread topic isn't about astral projection, and I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to ask, but from reading the page you linked I'd agree that trusting what a single article says on a subject can be doubtful. I'd recommend finding more sources and info on astral projection to get a stronger overall perspective on the question of the article !

Double posting to give a sort of announcement or update to this thread:


If anyone would like to learn more about astrology and star signs I probably won't be continuing this thread for the time being (as much as I'd love to - just haven't had the time to take on an informative project like this since creating it rip)

HOWEVER, I have made an Astrology Club on YWS that anyone is welcome to join, ✨ and there I have some new ideas of more manageable ways I can share astrology information - and maybe answer any astrology questions you might have. :) (I also love the idea of the club being a more interactive and casual place to share and have fun with this topic~)

So yeah! If you want to learn more about astrology stuff feel free to join the club linked above :)