Are Your Stars Aligned?

Lately I've been seeing a lot of horoscopes around. If you don't know what a horoscope is, you may have seen zodiac signs, like Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, which are all indicators of your horoscope. Horoscopes are a prediction of your future and traits based on when you were born and the alignment of the stars and planets at that point in time. People believe that the astrology can forecast what has happened, is happening, and will happen to those categorized under the same star alignment.

Photo Courtesy wikipedia.org

Zodiacs can be super fun and exciting, the question is whether you believe in them or not. Somehow these summaries of character always tend to be spot on. It's easy to classify these "spot on" predictions as just relatable prophecies though. I find it easy to believe that zodiac summaries are just a little insight that could very well be for anyone, and that all zodiacs are universally-relatable summaries about you that you want to read about yourself, and so you believe them. To give you an example, here's part of my zodiac, Cancer's, traits (according to horoscopes.lovetoknow.com):

"The tender-hearted trait that's so prominent in Cancer is often misunderstood by other zodiac signs. To complicate matters, Cancers find it difficult to communicate what they're feeling because they shut down all emotional responses when hurt. Most of the time, they seem emotionally immature when compared to other signs. While this might be true in some cases, most of the time it's simply that they have a uniquely receptive nature."

This article states that part of a Cancer's nature it to be "tender-hearted". Referring back to my point before, zodiacs and horoscopes just tell us what we want to hear, so we begin to believe it. I sure know that I could never turn down someone calling me tender-hearted, even if they've never even met me before. The next thing that the article says is that "Cancer is often misunderstood by other zodiac signs." Yes, I have absolutely felt misunderstood before, but hasn't everybody? I could easily fly my hands to my head and say, "It's like you've read my mind! I've always felt like an outsider and like no one ever truly understands!" Because in all honesty, I have completely experienced the feeling, but that's not to say it's not normal, let alone only limited to Cancers. The article also says things like "they have a uniquely receptive nature", which makes me feel boldly one-of-a-kind and special. Truthfully though, we all want to be told that our uniqueness is often confused for being an outcast, unexpected, or not normal, which is basically what this horoscope just did. If someone gives me as much of a compliment as "You're not inferior, you're just beautifully unique!", than I'd gladly believe them.

Photo Courtesy bodymemory.com

It's easy to pick apart zodiacs and horoscopes to the scientifically of how astrology can't possibly effect human behavior and it's all a false satisfaction for people through phycological manipulation, but that takes away the fun in it all, doesn't it? All in all I think that horoscopes can be a fun way to try and prepare yourself for what life might throw at you in the future, and maybe zodiacs can be a way of trying to figure yourself out a little bit better.