The pros and cons of Astrology

TRUTH IN THE STARS

While astrology may be debunked as a science, it still can be useful to some

KATIE HOLLAND

health & sports editor

Modern astrology is often said to be nothing more than daily horoscopes that anyone can relate to and blaming events on Mercury being in retrograde. The premise of Western astrology is that celestial bodies have spiritual influence over events on Earth. Astrology was born in the Babylonian empire and was used to predict seasons by observing celestial patterns. Astrology was also adopted by Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Now that zodiac signs and horoscopes are back in trend, they’re explored and researched more than ever. Even if it’s debunkable, it doesn’t change the fact that millions of people use astrology, and there are professionals who have dedicated their lives to astrology. It can offer other-worldly explanations for chaotic occurrences and explain the unexplainable. With the sense that something else is in control comes relaxation for stressors in life.

Despite being not being considered a science, there are nearly 70 million Americans who read horoscopes daily, according to Scientific American. Astrologers remind doubters that while it is seen by many to be substantial, astrology isn’t a religion or system of beliefs — you don’t have to believe in celestial bodies for astrology to exist. Astrology has also been undervalued due to the fact that it’s seen as a pseudoscience, but despite once being regarded as one, astrology isn’t a science and doesn’t need to fit into scientific methodology to be valued. Some may deem astrology a hoax because we have a heightened awareness of scientific findings, unlike ancient civilizations that practiced astrology before us, but it’s something undefined by science — as are many things that still exist despite having no scientific backing.

Information presented in apps like Co-Star and posts linking scenarios like coffee orders to a sign isn’t information that should be taken literally. The issue many people have with astrology is the fact that they’ve dumbed it down without doing research or giving it a chance. If you take it for nothing more than how it’s presented in media, the information is clearly going to depend on your perceptions. The only way to understand is to study natal charts and research how placements manifest themselves in physical life. This requires patience, willingness and excitement to learn, traits the casual astrologer usually lacks.

Astrology also catches criticism for use of zodiac signs, and is often over generalized by the traits of these signs in pop culture. Many find the zodiac to be hard to trust due to the vagueness and general explanation of traits that could apply to nearly everyone. Again, to understand zodiacs, one must look to their chart and analyze each house to determine the effect of celestial placements on personality.

Even if astrology is debunkable, it’s valuable. By looking into the stars for answers, you distance yourself from the present and elements of life that may be causing stress. The idea that everything is under control and can be calming and uniting in dark times, and remind us that this too shall pass and is under control. If all of astrology was proven fake and its only good quality was unity and connection that comes from astrological research, I still would believe it worthy of people’s time. p

STARS IN OUR LIFE Traits that each zodiac sign is associated with SOURCE: PREPSCHOLAR. COM

TAURUSIntelligentDependableHardworking ARIES Courageous Competitive Honest

GEMINIAdaptableOutgoingIndecisive

CANCER LoyalProtectiveIntuitive LEO ConfidentAmbitiousGenerous

Creative Reliable Patient

VIRGO

SCIENCE IN THE STARS

Astrology is an ancient pseudoscience and usage of it is harmful to our lives

STARS IN OUR SKY Where the zodiac constellations can be found SOURCE: CONSTELLATION-GUIDE .COM

PISCES AQUARIUS CAPRICORN Seen at latitudes between +90º and -65° Seen at latitudes between +65º and -90° Seen at latitudes between +60º and -90° LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUSSeen at latitudes between +55º and -90° Seen at latitudes between +40º and -90°Seen at latitudes between +65º and -90°

illustration by | OLIVIA HU

CAROLINE EDGAR

opinions editor

When the original 12 zodiac signs were created around 5000 years ago, they were created to explain the unexplainable, to give them a structure they could rely on based off of something they could trust — the stars. That’s what astrology is and has always been across the planet: people looking to the stars for answers. Now that we have science, though, we’re able to determine things about our world with accuracy, and we’ve proven our usage of astrology is nothing more than a pseudoscience. Thus, astrology shouldn’t be referenced as often as it is, because it in no way is a reliable source. Chances are, you’ve seen the same posts that I have online, that tell the reader all about how they’re a French vanilla scented candle because they happened to be born on March 3rd, or something else of the same insignificant nature, with the idea that your date of birth could somehow affect your personality and your future. While most people don’t genuinely believe in astrology, with the rise in its popularity, there is a rise in the amount of people who truly believe it holds weight in the formation of a person’s personality. These kinds of people end up making blatantly untrue assumptions about other people based on their birthdays, which not only is incredibly rude and can make people uncomfortable to have assumptions made before even talking to them, but cuts them off from potential friends and even romantic partners if they are one of those people who say they “could never date a Gemini” or any other sign for that matter.

A common argument for the believability of zodiac signs is the idea that they’ve been around for so long, and several countries and cultures have their own zodiac based on the stars that dictate your personality, so it must be right. The issue with this is that, for example, the Chinese zodiac isn’t based on the same time frames as the Western zodiac. The Chinese zodiac is based on approximately year-long windows, which means that everybody born in the same year would fall under one zodiac, which conflicts with the Western idea of the zodiacs changing about every month or so. The only similarity between these belief systems is that the stars would affect our lives, but at the end of the day, the stars are giant flaming masses of gases in outer space, light-years away, and the only effects they could have on our life are purely physical, like stargazing, or, getting a sun tan.

In a way, the argument that believing that signs affect your personality is incredibly similar to the idea that being blonde would make a person less intelligent, or wearing glasses makes a person smarter. There’s no scientific evidence of this being true, and is nothing but a stereotype that makes life difficult for everyone involved. If stereotypes like blondes being dumb and wearing glasses makes you smart are considered universally untrue and childish ideas, why isn’t the same applied to systems such as astrology? We don’t make posts and share false information about things we can’t control affecting our personalities, so we should stop making posts and assumptions about the zodiac signs and people based off of their birthdays, of all things. p