#31

Nothing wrong with enjoying it. As I say it’s just a bit weird being skewered for not believing in it.

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#32

P sure I read a while back that there was some study that said people born at certain times of the year have similar traits due to things like temperature, season etc. It’s just that earlier communities ascribed it to the planets.

There’s a good episode on Netflix’s Explained about it which goes into the history of it - it’s only in the last 150 years that it split off from astronomy and became known as quackery.

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#33

Like if your mum gets SAD in the winter you can be a depressed baby if you’re born at a certain time?

#34

Oh of course, I didn’t read the article sorry! I suppose I’m the opposite - really don’t get how it makes some people SO furious, it’s just a bit of fun and helps give a bit of emotional and spiritual guidance for those of us who want it.

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#35

Exactly this. Personally, it’s not for me and I don’t believe in it. My wife however gets a lot of comfort and guidance from tarot, spirituality etc so who am I to tell her it’s wrong? Just let people enjoy what they enjoy and get on with your own life!
I’m pretty sure the common use of astrology in newspapers etc stems from the birth of Princess Margaret somehow but I can’t remember where I heard that.

#36

Yeah! (Yet more similarities between me and your wife lol)

Also on a more practical level the folks I’ve seen who are making names for themselves in things like modern astrology, tarot, witchcraft etc are overwhelmingly those who have (often multiple) marginalised identities. and some have said that it has helped them personally deal with trauma from oppression, build communities and even make an income from things like readings etc. So I’d never knock it for that reason alone

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#37

Yeah I think anything that allows otherwise isolated people to become part of something or somewhere they feel they belong and take solace in isn’t to be derided. I think a lot of the bad feeling/cynicism (my own included) comes from ‘mediums’ and ‘psychics’ and the like who are clearly just out to scam people, often the vulnerable (recently bereaved etc) and we miss the point of what people involved in other, more genuine aspects of astrology, witchcraft, spirituality etc get out of it.

#38

As a straight man my negative feelings about astrology come from the fact that I once told a girl I was a gemini halfway through a date and she later used it as the sole reason not to meet for a second.

Other than that, generally positive / amicable feelings about it

#42

Leo: Pathetic.

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#43

Don’t believe in astrology obviously however when I was in China someone had a lonely planet that had descriptions of all the Chinese birth animals (monkey, dog etc). I used this to correctly identify 4 out of 4 people’s animals based on the descriptions of the personalities in the book. Thought that was a bit curious…

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#45

This makes sense but I can’t work out how it works for the Chinese year things, you can’t have whole years worth of people with the same personalities.

#47

I think mostly people ascribe this to a combination of you making certain things more significant from your bias and those people unconsciously behaving in a way they are told they will?

I guess the test would be whether you can easily work it out for people back home who are unaware of how they should be?

#49

They’re gonna be surprised when they meet someone born in the southern hemispere.

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#50

Astrology has always been something which was embraced more by women (and gay men probably) than by straight men, mainly because its presentation in newspapers and ‘on stage’ was tailored towards them. No need to get irked about it though.
fwiw I have no issue with it as long as it’s treated as a fun thing. What I hate (one of very few things I’d use that word about) is the way astrology is exploited by charlatans to make money from vulnerable people.
That is something to get way more irked about imo

#51

I really want to like all this stuff and basically anything that would make me a witch, but i just can’t actually believe in it. Closest i can get is seeing tarot as a way someone could bring out their natural intuition without anything supernatural or clairvoyant going on.

#52

In the grand scheme of things that can affect a person though it’s going to be such a minor minor factor. DNA, upbringing, class, childhood trauma, stuff your mother was eating, drinking and smoking, all bound to play a much bigger role in what shapes a person.

#54

no idea I’m afriad!

Can’t think of a witty retort personally but by all means go for it :slight_smile:

#55

Yeah I don’t mind it. I don’t give it much credence myself but at the same time when someone’s like “oh you’re such a saggitarius” it’s no different to when someone says something like “oh you’re just like Joey from Friends/Samantha from SATC” and often leads on to a deeper conversation about life and who you are.

#56

I don’t believe in astrology but I’m definitely a Pisces

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#59

I’m such an Aries