Having studied astrology for some time now, I’m very used to seeing two points of “refutation” of it over and over again. There’s the classic, all-too-often-used, anti-astrological argument of “the stars don’t define us; it’s all too general” and the much more technical one of “how am I my ‘sign’ if the constellations are in different places?” (e.g. when the Sun is in Taurus it’s actually in the constellation of Aries?)
This article is dedicated to addressing the former. For the latter, feel free to view my YouTube video “Astrology for skeptics.” Or research the precession of the Equinoxes and how our perspective from Earth changes ever so subtly every two thousand years by a couple degrees thus changing our vantage point. However, since the planets all revolve around the Sun in the plane of the solar system, how those planets are still impacting the Earth — from the same angle that was codified in Babylonian times as “Taurus” — is all about space really. That region of space corresponds with certain psychological characteristics that we have come to know as that constellation Taurus, but, of course, it’s the angle of space that matters, not the constellation.
Anyways, back to my main argument. It’s a sad fact that in this day and age, just not enough is known about astrology. Many, many people don’t even know that their natal chart exists, much less have explored its many facets and reflected on its practical meaning in their lives. It’s sad to me that already some people reading this are confused by this exotic term “natal chart.” But that’s OK if you don’t know!
Do yourself a favor and check out alabe.com/freechart for your own, free interpretation of your natal chart and have your accurate birth time handy. (If you don’t have your birth time, don’t read the Rising sign, as it’s reliant on where the sun was at the time you were born.) One cannot speak intelligibly about astrology unless one has at the very least seen their natal chart — they simply don’t know what they’re talking about. Being the logical person that I am, I was skeptical myself until I saw this scientific representation of how the planets were impacting me, for that’s what a natal chart is: a snapshot of our solar system in relation to the Earth at the time of your birth. I also had read various different perspectives on my natal chart placements/energies (e.g. Sun in Sagittarius, Venus in Leo, Mars in Cancer, etc.). Did you even know that you have more than one energy? A lot of people don’t — I didn’t until three years ago.
I urge you to check your natal chart out for yourself and to Google your natal placements to get different perspectives. Most importantly, when looking at the information, decide for yourself if this millennia-old art-science that Benjamin Franklin, Newton and da Vinci studied ravenously makes sense to you. But, before saying it’s too general and it could apply to anyone, do your reading, my friends. I bet you’ll be stunned by what you find.
Will Harrison studies French and Spanish. He can be reached at sself@sagebrush.unr.edu.