I’ve been following several astrologers and astrology enthusiasts on Twitter, and I’ve been pondering what I see, and the approaches of different people regarding Astrology. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I like what I see is some cases. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a little bit of sarcasm regarding signs and placements as much as the next gal, but sometimes it goes too far.
The line gets blurred between sarcasm and the reality of signs in Astrology. Jokes abound [for fun and giggles of course] about exaggerated negative traits that everyone can laugh at and mock. It’s all good fun, right?
Well, even if true, which it is not, it is not fun. It is misleading, inaccurate, and demeans the practice of Astrology overall. I don’t mind uniformed people making fun of a particular placement, but when a person self-identifies as an astrologer and they mock a trait, I find it to be malpractice.
There are of course both positive and negative traits in any description of a sign. There just are. But, have you ever asked yourself how these play out in real time with real people? Positive and Negative traits are not baked into the proverbial cake. “The stars do not compel; they only impel”.
We have free will. Each of us can rise above any negative trait or tendency with a simple choice to do just that–rise above it. Astrology is not some cast in stone description of anything. It is not cast in stone at all. Oh, there are tendencies to be sure, and most people follow the path of least resistance and follow these tendencies. But that is a choice. It is all about choice.
As a Scorpio, you aren’t born being revengeful. Does a Scorpio have a tendency to hold onto things and seek retribution? Sure, but not ALL Scorpios do. Some make the choice to be better than the instinct for ‘payback’. Nor is recklessness in an Aries a trait in ALL Aries, or stubbornness in a Taurus, etc. If every Sun sign were that easy to describe for eveyrone in that sign, astrologers would never been needed at all.
And [imo] we are needed. Why? Because every chart is as different as fingerprints. We are all unique, and based on our uniqueness we are prone to certain behaviors, but we are not destined to live out every negative attribute of any given sign. There is nothing ‘fated’ in astrology. Well, except a Yod, and that is very rare, and a story for another time.
While there are prominent traits in signs, they are not some sort of death sentence. If you aren’t a Pisces, you can still be psychic. If you aren’t a Virgo, you can still have a great attention to detail. Not all Libras make excellent marriage partners, and not all Capricorns are responsible and boring. Saying so, just isn’t true, and it gives the entire art of Astrology a bad name.
Uninformed people take these sarcastic pronouncements as ‘facts’, and never realize that this is the new bias and/or prejudice. Each trait that is mocked creates a negative impression of a sign and consequently those born in that sign. People begin to mock the people and not the sign. People get hurt, and for no reason at all, because the traits mocked are simply not a universal truth at all.
Not to mention the fact that many of these traits can be created by a combination of planets in a particular house. Making someone appear to be an XYZ, but in fact is something entirely different Sun sign-wise. Astrology is a complicated, but beautiful art form. I’m disappointed that on social media people do not see that mockery diminishes us all when it comes to Astrological pronouncements of flaws and quirks. It’s just mean spirited.
I was going to vent on, you guessed it, social media, but why? So, I’m doing it here because there’s no need to do it on social media, there aren’t enough characters for me to vent effectively, and it would do no good. If someone thinks it is clever to mock a sign, then they just don’t get it, and probably won’t get it for years and years. My pointing it out won’t educate them at all.
But, sometimes I do need to vent, and since I pay the bills around here, I can vent to my heart’s content.
And, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
